A Bond Stronger than Blood
by Ms Severus Kenobi
Summary: 1st installment in The Bond Series. Ever since Leonard had first declared that he was going to regurgitate on the younger man it was like an invitation to the kid to annoy the hell out of the old country doctor. Strictly Friendship!
1. House Calls

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! I'm super excited to be starting this series. I've always been a big Star Trek fan and it wasn't until recently that I realized that I needed to take an active role in supporting something that I hold near and dear to my heart! I'm here mainly because I love writing and because I love McCoy as a character, but I'm also here to urge others to join me in taking a more active stance in supporting what they love. Along with these chapters that I'm submitting there are also going to be links that I put up to make your reading this story more fulfilling and enjoyable. I suggest everyone seize upon the opportunity to get to know more about the fictional characters who have affected thousands. If any of you have any questions about Dr. Leonard McCoy, just ask me and I will answer you, or I will show where you can go to get the answer (and if I can't do that either, than I'm very sorry!).

**Summary**: A story about Leonard McCoy and Jim Kirk: how their relationship grew from complete strangers to brothers bonded by something thicker than blood. (The academy years)

**Beta'd:** This story has not been beta'd. I have proofread them myself, so all mistakes are mine. If any of you spot mistakes, or have suggestions on how to make my characters and writing better, please fill free to let me know!

**Disclaimer: I am only saying this once: Star Trek does not belong to me! I'm making no money off of this (if I was, I wouldn't be a starving college student!). Karl Urban would also be my personal slave, but that's getting a little off topic . . .**

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Chapter 1: House Calls

Leonard set down his PADD, turned off the lights, and slipped into bed. Trying to get use to his school schedule was taxing; every teacher laid out everything that they would be covering in class and it gave him stress just thinking about it. He had gotten lost trying to find a good majority of his classes, and it was somewhat embarrassing asking kids for directions. And while he attended the Academy full time, he also had a job at the hospital part time, plus the mountains of homework that his professors piled on him.

Leonard passed a hand over his face: he was getting too old for this shit.

It only seemed like he had barely closed his eyes when there was knocking on his door. The sound seemed to bounce around in his head, was he dreaming this? The sound got louder and more incessant. Leonard shifted and looked at the time and groaned. It was a little past two. The doctor slowly got up and stumbled towards the door. His roommate was cursing and glaring holes into his back.

He fumbled with the controls until the door opened with a quiet swoosh to reveal his late-night visitor. The kid looked a mess. Blood was dripping from his nose; it was soaking the front of his shirt. His face was a colorful array of mottled bruises and he was leaning heavily against the door frame. Leonard felt an itch in his hand, adding a new bruise to Kirk's face crossed his mind, but he let the frustration drain from him.

McCoy stepped aside and made his way to the bathroom. Ever since Leonard had first declared that he was going to regurgitate on the younger man it was like an invitation to the kid to annoy the hell out of the old country doctor. Not only that but he had even given him a nickname: Bones. It bugged the shit out of him. Scowling, Leonard riffled through his medikit, guiding Kirk to sit on the rim of the toilet. He applied some salves and several hypos. Something deep within him commented that he shouldn't be having so much fun with those things, but there was a certain level of satisfaction every time young Kirk would flinch.

"What was it this time? Some poor alien knock over your shot?" McCoy asks, not because he's actually interested, but because this kid better have a damn good reason for waking him up too damn early.

Kirk grins at him but doesn't answer. It looks like he'll pass out soon anyway. The doctor shrugged and guided him over to the small couch they had acquired; after dumping him there he went and riffled through the closet for an extra blanket. After he gives the kid the blanket, he asks him how he feels; all he gets is a grunt. Rolling his eyes McCoy stumbles back to his bed and just flops on it, not even bothering to go back under the sheets.

His roommate is still grumbling and cursing at him like he expected the good doctor to just turn away an injured man. Finally McCoy lifted his head and addressed his roomie, "Shut the hell up and go to sleep already."

He fell asleep grumbling about infantile roommates and parasites that never left you alone.

The next morning McCoy woke up to an annoying alarm clock and an empty room. It seemed that sometime during the night the covers had magically found their way on top of him once more. He didn't think too much of it, what did catch his attention was the pile of blankets and overturned cushions that lay atop the couch. McCoy growled and marched over, snatching up the blankets and shoving them back into the closet. He went back and rearranged the cushions.

He didn't know why he tolerated that delinquent of a man. Kirk. Jim. McCoy grumbles as he gets into the shower, stupid kid would probably be back tonight, and for some reason, the doctor was kind of glad of that fact.

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Till next time, ladies and gentlemen!


	2. Friends don't let Friends

**Author's Note**: So updates will only be once a week until May since I have finals and I'm in the middle of transferring schools and such. That aside! If anyone has any McCoy (and Kirk) scenes/situations that you want me to write, just tell me! I will write them if they help further the point of my story, or I might have already written it! Thanks to my wonderful three reviewers who took time out of their schedules to write me a quick review, your feedback and general enthusiasm for my story is very welcome and appreciated!

**Awesome Link!**: There's a link on my profile to a youtube video that happens to be a wonderful McCoy tribute. So please support Star Trek and watch this vid!

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Chapter 2: Friends don't let Other Friends Drink Alone

Leonard sends his fifth message to Jim. Stupid kid probably wouldn't answer this one either. It wasn't that he was dying to see Jim anytime soon; it was just that he had left the bathroom in a state of disaster. The doctor decided to stay away, convinced that some of the liquids oozing down the sink are alien. When Kirk had sent him a message that he needed a place to clean up, McCoy didn't think twice about the consequences and he left the door unlocked. Hadn't even heard the kid come in or anything. He was woken by an outraged roommate. McCoy didn't understand anything he was screaming about, but he was constantly motioning towards the bathroom and then he left.

Sometimes he really wants to kill that kid.

McCoy starts messaging his temples as he's winding his way to the mess hall. He grimaces at his replicated lunch; it just wasn't the same as good ol' Georgia food. Making his way to an empty table in the corner of the room, he tries to steer clear of all the energetic youngin's, he wasn't here to make friends after all. He takes generous bites as he reviews a medical journal that the teacher had wanted the class to read by next session. It was utterly boring and completely useless. A big pile of cow dung.

A message appears on his PADD, and for a second McCoy thinks its Jim, but sees that it's from Starfleet Administrative:

_ Students, remember to visit the Kelvin Memorial to pay your respects on this very black day in Starfleet history. –Starfleet Administrative_

Leonard sets his food down, a brow rising. What was today? Quickly he deletes the current message and brings up his calendar. Oh. Ohhhhh. The doctor rubs a hand across his face. It was _that_ day. No wonder Jim wasn't answering any of his messages. Now McCoy feels like a jerk, and he hates that feeling, well, at least when it wasn't intentional. Maybe he should get something for Kirk. He snorts. Right, because they are the best of friends. Leonard gets up and puts his food in the disposal. If he was honest with himself, getting gifts for anybody was not something he did. Just ask his ex-wife.

Maybe he could just do something for him. No, Jim probably doesn't want that. He probably wants to be left alone. Besides, McCoy thought, it's not like they were friends. McCoy was just some random guy that happens to patch up and occasionally talk to this other random guy. Right. Dammit. He needs to track down that kid.

He mutters to himself as he searches down Jim's new conquest, "I'm a doctor dammit, not a bloodhound."

He stops in front of Jasmine's door. At least he thinks it's her door. Jim had talked on and on and on about this girl. Things he didn't really want to know, but Jim obviously felt the need to impart to him. He presses the comm, waiting for Jasmine (Jasmine, really? Pretty sure that's not her real name) to let him in. The door opens to reveal a human girl. Leonard is actually pretty surprised, Jim seemed to be in an alien fetish for the longest time. The girl looks at him questioningly.

"Oh, right, uh," Wow, dazzle her with words, Leonard, "Uh hi, I'm looking for my friend, Jim Kirk. I thought you might know where he might be today."

The girl pouts and twirls her red hair, "I know Jimmy, we're together, but he didn't want to do anything today, I don't know why." Her whining was starting a fuse that the doctor knew was going to become a headache. "He said that he needed time to himself today, something about visiting the dead or something. He said he didn't even feel up to having sex tonight." The girl was close to tears.

McCoy's right eyebrow shot up, he needs to talk to Jim about his choice in women. He walks away from her, her whining still ringing down the halls; she probably hasn't noticed that he wasn't there anymore. She did say something that caught his attention, though. Visiting the dead, hm, he wonders if George Kirk was buried in San Francisco. Well, no time like the present to find out. He heads for the administration building.

The kid at the front desk was giving him a look. It was kind of creeping him out actually. After a minute the boy continues to type. He would give a hmm, and an ahhh, and then look at McCoy some more. For his part, Leonard, was trying to avoid all eye contact, while tapping his finger on the desk impatiently.

"Hmmm,"

The doctor's eye twitches, "Can you answer my question or are you just blowing sunshine up my ass? Are the victims of the Kelvin buried in San Francisco or not? I don't have all damn day, kid."

More typing, "Hmm, well it seems that there is a memorial for the deceased, it's in Victory Court Yard."

A vein in McCoy forehead was bulging, "You mean the Kelvin Memorial?"

"Umm, yup!"

He was out the door in a flash. What a complete waste of time! He had been traipsing across campus for nothing! Skipping out of his classes just to find out that he should've gone to the most obvious of places in the first place. It really pisses him off.

He enters the court yard and looks around. Jim probably wouldn't be out in the open. If I was James T. Kirk where would I hide to grieve? Looking around he realizes everything was pretty open. Well, damn. Looking away from the memorial Leonard saw the grass sloping down until dropping into the bay. A couple of trees dot the landscape. Well, Jim might be somewhere over there.

Leonard scowls slightly, the grass was damp: awesome. He searches every tree until he comes upon a lump. The lump looks suspiciously Kirk-like. He nudges it slightly with his muddy boot. It groans and looks up at him with a glare. Yeah, it was Jim.

McCoy grabs a hold of the kid's arm and lifts him up, "There's a bench under that tree, let's go there."

Jim only gives him a puzzled look, but follows along quietly. He slumps like a sack of potatoes and Leonard gives him a quick once over, nothing seems to be wrong, except for the fact that Jim was obviously drunk. McCoy sits there, not exactly sure what he's supposed to do now that he's actually found his target.

He clears his throat, "You shouldn't be alone."

Something flashes in Kirk's eyes, "Why?"

"Well, it's just not mentally healthy to be in solitude on a day that tragic events transpired," Leonard shakes his head mentally, now he's going to start rambling, "One, it cements in the person's mind the negativity of the day, and secondly the body is more likely to release a chemical that will-"

"No," Jim's piercing blue eyes are looking at him closely, "why do you care?"

McCoy would've seen it as a slander to his profession if he didn't understand where Jim was coming from. The doctor sighs and runs a hand down the back of his neck. Honestly he has no idea why he cares. All he knows is that Jim shouldn't be alone, and that no one was going to help him had Leonard not been here. But he couldn't very well tell Jim that, he was trying to uplift the kid, not remind him that he's alone.

"Because," Leonard takes a deep breath, "I'm your friend, Jim. And friends don't let their friends be depressed on their birthdays."

Jim's whole countenance changes, it was brighter. A sinking feeling formes in his stomach, McCoy feels like he might have just signed his own death warrant. Well, no going back now. Jim was looking at the doctor like he was just barely seeing him in a new light.

"Are you serious?"

What the hell kind of question was that? Of course he was serious, did Jim just think he said these kinds of things for kicks and giggles?

"Look, Jim, you wake me up almost every night, if I was like my roommate I would've shot you by now," I still might, "I try and help your body heal from the crap you put it through. If tolerating that doesn't make me your friend, as well as a saint, I don't know what does. Don't you agree?"

Jim rubs the back of his head; McCoy's words are probably still trying to register in his inebriated mind. "Well, yeah. I suppose."

McCoy claps the young man's shoulder, "Then as your friend, and as your unauthorized doctor, I prescribe going to get something to eat, and then getting shit-faced in a bar."

Jim jumps up and nods, already walking off. McCoy groans, what has he gotten himself into? Trying to be a southern gentleman really might have put him in the grave this time.

"Come on, Bones! I'm starving!"

Leonard groans again as he pushes himself off the bench. Well, it was time for this old man to face the music. He prays fervently that he won't regret the decision that caused him to run frantically around campus, enduring stupid people and slightly creepy people, to end up pronouncing friendship to the man that so far, had made his school experience extremely difficult. Oh yeah, he could definitely feel a headache coming on.

"So Jim, about my bathroom . . ."

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There you have it! See you all next week!


	3. Turns Out getting Lost is

**Link!**: On my profile is a wonderful sight full of happiness. FML McCoy is so funny, you might just pee your pants. It's hilarious even if you haven't seen TOS. I do encourage you all to watch the Original Series though, they're highly entertaining and fun!

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Chapter 3: Turns out Getting Lost is a Good Thing

It was another shitty day in San Francisco. Or, at least that's what Leonard thinks. It's cloudy, and had been drizzling on and off all day. Not only that, but he had forgotten to carry some money with him, so that when the convention was over he had no way of paying for a cab. His ride to the convention had left early unbeknownst to him. Now here he was, walking briskly down the streets and hopefully not getting lost. The drizzle starts up again. Super.

McCoy tries getting a hold of Jim again. Nothing. Stupid kid was about as reliable as a two-year-old.

A vendor tries getting his attention, McCoy glares at him and the poor salesman shrinks back. He was unfamiliar with this part of town, actually it was starting to look like the crummy part of town. Maybe he was lost. Not that he was going to admit it to himself. He figures if he keeps going North, he'll eventually hit the Academy.

He hears a loud noise in the alleyway that he has just passed. McCoy pauses for a minute, not sure of what he has heard. There it was again, and yes it did confirm his suspicion. Not that he was too pleased with being right. The sound of flesh on flesh, and a very feminine cry of pain. Apprehension trickles into his mind, this is a situation that Jim would love to be in, but Jim wasn't here and Leonard was a doctor dammit. He wasn't going to sit on the sidelines when someone needs his help.

Pivoting around, he enters the alleyway. It was dark, and smells like piss and garbage, steam was rising from the warm ground. He really doesn't like this one bit. Taking a deep breath, McCoy steps further in. What he sees makes his blood boil. A ratty young man was holding a purse aloft while beating the crap out of a middle-aged woman who was curled up on the ground.

Now it might be true that McCoy had almost failed the hand-to-hand in his combat class (oh hell, he almost failed the whole damn class), but he bet his ex-wife's antique Russian dolls that he was a hell of a lot better than some runny nosed punk off the streets. The only thing that worries him was if the kid had a weapon besides his appendages.

Leonard doesn't even give the kid any warning, but his arm gives a satisfying crack as the doctor twists it behind the criminals back and the sound of the kid's nose practically exploding follows as McCoy slams the palm of his hand into his face. The thief howls and throws his left fist wildly in McCoy's direction. McCoy takes the hit in favor of slamming his opponents face into the wall. The kid seems pretty resilient, and McCoy doesn't want to toy around anymore, he has a victimized woman to take care of. So he fluidly pulls out a hypo and injects it into the thief's neck. The kid groans and falls, unconscious. McCoy looks around the alley trying to find something to secure the delinquent. Shrugging, he picks up an empty garbage bag and starts wrapping it around the kid's wrists. He put it in a knot that no human could get out of even though it was just a garbage bag.

With that done Leonard takes out his communicator and he patches in a line to the police.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I found some lady being beaten to death. I stopped the perpetrator, but the woman looks like she needs a hospital."

"Sir, we advise you not to attempt intercepting the criminal. What address are you at?"

McCoy groans, "I don't know where the hell I am! If the people who constructed this God-forsaken city actually numbered it logically, I might be able to tell you."

"Sir, I need you to calm down and look around you and try to find any directional markers."

McCoy growls and stalks out of the alleyway, "I'm in a dumpy part of town, uh, there's a store across the street with a big ol' alien's ass on it with the number 410 West."

"We know where you are sir, please stay calm and we will be with you as soon as possible."

McCoy closes his communicator and turns back to the alley, "'Don't attempt to intercept the criminal.'" He snorts.

He kneels beside the woman while taking out the small medikit he always carries with him. He touches the side of her neck, a whimper escapes. "No need to worry miss, I'm here to help you. An ambulance is coming right now, but I'm going to see if I can take care of some of the minor damage. It's ok, that man won't hurt you anymore, you're safe."

The woman relaxes marginally. McCoy passes a scanner over her body and while the diagnosis isn't good, at least it looks like she was going to live. "I'm just going to give you something for the pain and I'll take care of some minor cuts and breaks." She relaxes completely as the sedative starts coursing through her body, she gazes at the doctor, tears running down her cheeks.

"Thank you . . ."

"No need for thanks, miss, just doing my job." In the distance there were sirens.

The cars and ambulance pull up and people start pouring out. McCoy shouts and gets their attention. He's immediately talking to the emergency medics about what he had found in his scan and what he had done for her since then. They load the woman into the vehicle and take off. Leonard would've gone with them, except the police wants to take him back to the station for a statement and whatever else these people did.

They were loading the criminal into a separate emergency vehicle; McCoy guesses that he might need some hospital time as well. The thought makes him grin. Leonard climbs into the police vehicle and they start off. He doesn't feel completely comfortable around these people (which is ironic because Starfleet is basically the police force of the universe), but on the bright side he was getting a ride into a more familiar part of town. Maybe they would even give him a ride back to his dorm.

He sat at a desk in an empty room, it screames the feeling, 'you're about to be interrogated!', so he guesses that the room fulfills its purpose. The door slides open and a man walks in, McCoy can't really tell his ranking, hell, it's not like he really cares about stuff like this anyway.

The man puts a recorder down on the table and presses a button, "Mr. McCoy, I'm Carl Smith. I was hoping you could recount the events of the day for me."

Well duh, of course he could, what was the point in hiding information. So McCoy got comfy, "Well, I was making my way back to Starfleet Academy-"

"Through lower San Francisco? One of the worst districts in this city?"

McCoy's face heats up, "I was a little bit lost okay?" He huffs and starts again, "So I was making my way back to Starfleet Academy when I passed by this alley and heard the sounds of someone beating the shit out of a female. So I decided to intervene-"

"You, a civilian, decided to confront a criminal when you didn't know the situation or if the criminal was armed and dangerous, instead of calling the police first?"

McCoy glares at him, "I've been taught hand-to-hand combat by some of the best people in this universe, besides if I had taken the time to call the police and wait for you guys to get your sorry asses to the scene, the woman might have been dead by then. I'm a doctor, my profession is all about taking chances." Leonard adjusts in his seat, "So anyway, I confront the kid and knock him out with a sedative, and I secure him so that if by some miracle he regains consciousness he won't be able to go anywhere. Then I contacted the police, and attended to the woman who was attacked. I gave her a sedative and fixed some minor abrasions and well as start to mend some minor bone breaks. She was stable enough that I wasn't too worried about anything life threatening. And then you guys showed up."

Carl leans back in his chair, "So you stopped a crime, and then started work on healing the victim-"

"I'm a doctor, dammit, what did you expect me to do?"

"Nothing more than what society demands of you." Carl stands up, "Well, I think that about covers it. We'll be contacting you about the trial as soon as a date is set. Is there anything we can do for you, doctor?"

Leonard rubs his chin, "Well, now that you mention it, I would really appreciate a ride to the hospital that they took that woman to. I would like to check up on her personally."

Carl nods, "Come with me."

It was a hell of a time trying to find the woman, but Leonard seems to have a gift in tracking people down. He finally finds the room and as he nears he encounters a couple of people that look to be relatives. They turn to him as he approaches.

McCoy cleares his throat, "I would like to visit the woman in there."

One man was instantly suspicious, "Why? You're not a doctor nor are you a relative."

An eyebrow rose, "Sir, I am in fact a doctor, but that is not the reason I am here. I would like to inquire on the health of the woman I had just rescued from certain death. To see if these state hospitals are actually doing their jobs."

They were all surprised, the woman standing behind the man smacks him in the arm, "Gregory you are such ass, treating Chrissy's savior like dirt." Her eyes land on McCoy, "You can go in, I don't know if she's still awake or not."

McCoy nods and proceeds inside. There were the familiar beeps in the room that Leonard recognizes, and it makes him feel at home. He walks over to the screen above the bed, going through the files there. He could tell that the woman was staring at him, but he doesn't give her any mind as he continues to scan the results.

He finally turns to her and smiles slightly, "It looks like you're going to be fine, miss. You had me worried the first time I saw you."

Her eyes widen, "You-you're the man-" her voice was raspy, "That he-helped . . . in the alley."

McCoy nods.

"Tha-thank you so much."

His heart seems to constrict, and his chest feels like it's on fire. These are the moments in a doctor's life that are cherished above all. It makes a truly shitty job bearable, "You're welcome, miss. It was really nothing, anybody would've done it."

"No-not just anybody. You-you're special, sir. It must ha-have been the Heaven's that sent you to-to me."

McCoy shakes his head and mutters, "Nope, just got lost."

"Then I am gl-glad that you got los-lost today." She reaches over and grabs his hand, "What is the name of my savior?"

Leonard flushes a bit, "Uh, Leonard. Doctor Leonard McCoy, but my friends call me Bones." Leonard almost rolls his eyes, why did he mention that stupid nick-name? He hates the name, and only one person in the entire universe calls him that.

"Leonard." Chrissy smiles, her eyes were drooping.

McCoy pats her on the shoulder, "You should get some rest, you have a whole life ahead of you."

He leaves. The trek to Starfleet takes a half hour and he is just stepping onto campus when his PADD goes off. Checking it, McCoy almost feels like throwing the stupid thing.

_Meet me in the mess hall for dinner, I've got some babes that want to hook up with you. _

Sometimes he really wants to deck that kid. McCoy looks at the sky, it was dark. He had tried to get a hold of Jim all day, and he chooses now to contact him. Where was his great grandpa's shotgun when you need it?

Slowly he makes his way over to the mess hall. His feet are aching like no other and his nice clothes that he had worn to the convention were muddy, wrinkly, and bloody. McCoy can feel the bruise on his jaw throb in time to his heartbeat. One thing was for sure, he was not in the mood, or the condition, to go out on a blind date tonight. Especially with a female that Jim had picked out, hell, it might not even be female if McCoy knew anything about Jim's sense of humor.

The mess hall was pretty empty thankfully. McCoy spots Jim with a couple of broads practically hanging off of him. The doctor obtains his food before venturing over to the small group. He wants to keep a little distance from Jim, since the urge to slug him was still heavily present in his mind.

Jim waves at him, "Hey, Bones! These two lovely ladies are my friends Leylanee and Leslie, and they tell me that they really want to get a physical exam, if you know what I mean." The kid wriggles his eyebrows suggestively at him while the two girls giggle.

Wow, talk about absolutely no tact, McCoy just sets down his tray and startes digging into his food, "No."

"Oh, come on Bones, have-" Jim's eyebrows shot up, "Are you ok? Is that blood on your clothes?"

McCoy grunts, "I don't want to talk about it, Jim. I just want to eat, and then I want to sleep," the girls giggled, "alone."

"Oh by-the-way, sorry for not answering your messages, I've been kind of busy."

Leonard looks at him skeptically, "Right."

"So how was that medical convention anyway? sounded boring as hell."

McCoy stops eating and looks at Jim like there were no words to explain it, "You wouldn't believe me one bit. Not at all."

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So sometimes I imagine McCoy as a ninja: walking down the halls of Enterprise, throwing hypos like darts at people, twirling them around in some samurai-ish fashion! It's a just a bit of silliness.

Thanks for reading! Look forward to another update next week!


	4. Roommates are the Best

**Author's Note:** I just finished up on my finals and I moved back home today. Does anyone know what that means? Faster Updates! Yay! I'll probably start updating every three days. I'm also working on a sequel to this story, but it isn't flowing as well as this one, so we'll see how that goes.

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Chapter 4: Roommates are the Best

"I expect you to have those autopsy reports reviewed and your observations sent to my PADD by 0900 hours tomorrow. Class dismissed."

Leonard packs up his PADD and leaves the class. Although alien autopsy was an interesting concept, the busy work was hell. He wasn't as young as he once was, and these night classes were harder to concentrate in than in his previous experience. He walks across campus briskly, it was getting late and he has to start on this homework right away. What a pain in the ass, he has more important things to do than reviewing an autopsy report, like sleeping.

Some people are hanging out in the halls: chatting, playing games, screaming and running around. Thankfully it was relatively quiet down the hall where his room was. Relief starts flooding into the doctor. He could finally relax, kick off his shoes, and change into something slightly more comfortable. He enters his code, already tasting the coffee on his tongue, and enters into the dark room. The lights turn on, as they usually do when someone walks in, and McCoy stops short and curses how much the universe hates him.

There was a feminine scream; the young lady was trying to hide underneath the covers and his roommate. Both of their bodies were slick with sweat and completely naked. Leonard wants to gouge out his eyes and scrub his brain until there was nothing left. It was one thing having sex with someone; it was entirely different when you walk in on a couple in the process of sex. Especially a roommate whom he never talks to or associates with at all.

Kyle turns around, "Can't you read the sign, McCoy? The rooms occupied for the night. Get the hell out of here now!"

Leonard steps back and the door slides shut, the lock initiates. There on the door was a sign, _'McCoy – room occupied for the rest of the night, later. –Kyle'_. A vein in his forehead throbs, he was almost tempted to override the lock and kick those two out in the hall. But then the exhaustion hit him, and there wasn't any fight left. So he treks back down the hall and into the dorm lounge room where everyone else was hanging out, it was loud and busy, but it was going to be his bed for the night.

McCoy stakes out the couch he wants and shoves a couple, who were making out, off the end of it. They yelp and complain, but the doctor gives them a glare and they shut up and move to a different couch. Well, it looks like he would get his homework done on time. Shifting until he finds the most comfortable spot he could, McCoy takes out his PADD and brings up the autopsy reports. He pushes the din of noise all around him to the back of his head as he concentrates and takes notes.

By the time all reports are reviewed and his observations were sent to his professor, the lounge was empty and blessedly silent. The lights in the halls had all been dimmed to 5%. It was one in the morning. Leonard sighs and rubs his eyeballs. He stands up and stretches before walking around a little. Sleeping on the couch was going to kill his back and probably put a kink in his neck. But he was so tired.

He settles down, his feet hanging over the edge. Every few seconds he would shift, there just wasn't a comfortable spot anywhere. Finally he forces himself to be still. His eyes are becoming unfocused and his lids are drooping down. One last thought flits through his consciousness, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. He sure hopes Jim doesn't chose tonight to make his nightly visit.

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Sorry it's short! See ya'll in three days!


	5. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**Author's Note**: I know some of you want to know the conclusion to some of my scenes. That, unfortunately, is not the purpose of this story. This story is to show instances in McCoy's life and how they relate to Jim in some fashion. If you ask me, I'll tell you what I think might have happened had I allowed a scene to continue, but I purposefully put hints in there so that you can just assume that things happen "backstage" so to speak. And though I don't consider my story a series of one-shots, that's the basic foundation of it. But! If you have some interaction that you want to see (Bones going on a date, some other fantastical circumstance involving McCoy, or just some more brotherly love) just tell me and I will do it. What I will not do is add some kind of conclusion to my chapters, I leave them open because that's life. Life never truly ends, so you can't really have a true ending point in your story. Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up if anyone was wondering about the nature of this story :)

**Links**: I don't know why I wrote this down for this chapter, but my notes say "tell people to watch episode 1 of Star Trek: The Original Series". I don't remember why! But it's a good episode anyway, so you all should just watch it for the heck of it! Also there's a link on my page to Annime1231's Star Trek gallery, the fanart is amazing so you should all take a gander.

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Chapter 5: Series of Unfortunate Events

The sound of people packing their things and walking about and talking reaches his ears. It seems like such an insignificant sound. Wait. McCoy shoots straight up and realizes class was over. He had slept through his physics class. Shit. The teacher was looking at him with an annoyed expression. Leonard starts packing his things and books it out of there. This was the third class he had slept through today, it was unbelievable!

Of course, the great Doctor Leonard McCoy was not the one at fault here. No, the person at fault was none other than the parasite that had latched onto him since day one. James T. Kirk. Jim seemed to up the ante on nightly calls lately. And sometimes it was for the most ridiculous of things.

* * *

The sky was barely changing from its dark blue to a dark grey when there was someone shaking him. Leonard swatted at the person and mumbled something. More shaking. He growled and slowly opened one eye. The blurry silhouette of Jim was hovering above him. McCoy felt irritation and an emotion that might be hate bubble up. He pushed himself up and glared and the man before him.

"What is it this time, Jim," His voice was harsh from sleep, "This is the third time you've woken me up tonight." He mumbled something about regretting giving Jim the code to their room.

Jim looked slightly sheepish, but gestured towards his left hand. Leonard glanced at it, several fingers were in unnatural positions.

"Dammit Jim! You got into another fight didn't you? Show some restraint, kid." McCoy pulled Jim into the bathroom, looking back to see if all this commotion had woken up his roommate. Heaven seemed to smile on him tonight, Kyle was still out like a light. McCoy turned back to Jim, the kid had taken up his customary position on the bathtub lip. He held out his hand, grinning.

The doctor ran a hand through his bed-messed hair and sighed loudly, "You know, you should really go to the hospital for dislocated limbs. I'm not a one-stop-shop, Jim."

"Could've fooled me, Bones."

McCoy glared at him and took his hand, he studied it for a minute, "When I count to three I'm going to pop these fingers back into place, okay?"

Jim nodded and took a deep breath.

"Okay: One . . ."

Pop!

Jim yelped and tried to pull back, but McCoy was holding on firmly. He scanned the fingers, satisfied that they had set back properly. He wrapped the fingers tightly together in bandages. He then proceeded to check the rest of Jim, making sure that Jim wasn't hiding any other injuries. Once he was satisfied he patted the kid on the back and motioned him out to their small kitchenette.

It was 5 in the morning, so McCoy figured he might as well stay up. He made Jim and himself some herbal tea that would help with Jim's pain, as well as calm the doctor down. As Jim looked out the window at the brightening sky, McCoy slipped some whiskey into his own drink. Clearing his throat he handed Jim his cup. The kid sniffed at it.

"What the hell is this?"

Leonard rolled his eyes, "Its herbal tea, it should help with the pain. Pumping you full of drugs all the time isn't good for your system. This tea is stuffed full of natural pain relievers."

Jim made a face, "But it's such a girly drink."

"Just drink your damn tea, Jim."

* * *

Leonard heard a thump, and then a curse. Cracking an eye open, he saw that it was 0300. Damn it was early. Why did he wake up? Oh right, the noise. He looked over at the couch. Jim was sitting slouched, looking like he wanted to curl up on himself. McCoy got up and knelt in front of the young man. Jim wouldn't look at him.

"Are you hurt?"

He shook his head.

McCoy thought for a second, "You screw a pooch?"

A chuckle, he shook his head again.

"Well, this ain't twenty questions, kid. Tell me, or leave me the hell alone so that I can sleep."

Jim lifted his head, he looked close to tears, "You know Friezza, the one I couldn't stop talking about?"

McCoy nodded, "Your girlfriend."

"Well that's the thing, she doesn't want to be my girlfriend."

Leonard had never seen Jim so torn up over the rejection of a female, it happened so often and usually the kid just let it roll right off his shoulders. Once rejected he would move on to the next girl in line like nothing had happened. It didn't seem to be the case with this girl. Friezza.

McCoy stood up and went over to his dresser; he quickly put on some jeans and a shirt. He grabbed his ratty jacket and wallet. He slapped Jim on the back, "Come on, get up."

"Where are we going?"

"Don't get your panties in a twist, you'll see once we get there."

Suddenly Kyle sat up, "Can you two shut the hell up and leave already?"

McCoy glared at him while they were walking out the door, "Go screw yourself, Kyle."

The cabbie dropped them off in an older part of town, a more antique part. McCoy grabbed Jim's arm and dragged him down the street until they reached their destination. Jim looked up curiously; Leonard could see what was going through his mind. It was written all over his face. An ice cream shop? McCoy snorted, hell yeah.

Jim turned to his friend, "An ice cream shop? Are you feeling ok, Bones?"

McCoy growled as he pulled the reluctant young man inside, "Kid, you are never too old for ice cream. It's therapeutic, I should know, I'm a doctor."

Jim shook his head, "It's just that I've never been to an actual ice cream shop."

"Well, you deprived human being, now you can say that you've been in an ice cream shop."

They sat on the barstools and studied the menu. The cashier sauntered over, her big eyes looking at them expectantly. McCoy already knew what he was going to get, "I'll have the mint chocolate chip, heavy with the syrup."

"Do I detect a sweet tooth, Bones?"

"Shut up and order."

Jim looked for another minute, "I'll have the rocky road."

The woman sauntered off. Jim turned towards the doctor, "Ok, now what do we do?"

"We wait for our damn ice cream, idiot."

"No, I mean, there has to be a reason why we're here other than to satisfy your late night cravings."

"Just wait for your ice cream, Jim."

Shrugging Jim looked around, taking in all the details of the place. McCoy could still see the shadow of despair on his face. But his plan for uplifting spirits was foolproof and he thinks even the great Jim Kirk would succumb to it. So with that thought, Leonard turned to the cashier who slid both the bowls down to them.

They both dug into their treats, not saying anything. Each man in their own world for a minute. Finally McCoy shifted towards Jim, waving his spoon around, "You know, Jim, Friezza is not the last female in the universe. There are so many females, sometimes I feel suffocated."

Jim looked sullen and started playing with his dessert, "Yeah, I know."

"So what's your problem?"

"It's just . . . Friezza was different. She wasn't a one-night stand; I didn't want her to be." Jim went silent.

McCoy looked at him, ready to hear more, but it was obvious that Jim didn't really feel like talking about it much. But as a doctor, Leonard knew that a wound had to be cleaned before it could heal. So he supposed it was time for him to give a little more before the kid felt like revealing anything.

"You know . . . I always loved Jocelyn. Even though we married young, and our finances were tight, we could be beggars and I would still love her. She was my everything, perfect. We had a perfect little girl that I thought would finally cement us together as a family. But people change," McCoy paused, and continued with bitterness lacing his voice, "I changed, she changed. I had longer hours at the hospital because there was just so much to do, so many people that needed help and our small county hospital just didn't have enough people to meet the demands. She started socializing with a more questionable crowd, and their poisonous words took root. I don't think I will fully understand what happened between us."

Jim was looking at him intently, probably because this was the first time he had ever talked about his life before the divorce. McCoy took another bite, he let the minty chocolate slide down his throat and send electrical messages of pleasure to his brain. Breathing deeply he continued.

"Some things are just out of our control, Jim. We can't control what other people think or how they choose to feel towards us." His throat was starting to close up. No, McCoy shook his head, he was not going to break down dammit, he needed some good bourbon for that occasion. "Jocelyn was special. Really special. And I think I saw that in her, but she didn't see that in me. Jocelyn's special to someone else, but she wasn't meant for me. And maybe someday I'll meet someone out there who's special to me and I'm special to her."

Jim was studying him, his little genius mind working away. He raised his hand and the cashier came and refilled his bowl. He took a bite, and then looked at McCoy, "You and that one girl seem to be going at it well enough."

Leonard nodded and smiled slightly, "Nancy and I do get along surprisingly well, I don't know if it will go anywhere, I don't know if I want it to. But that's just my point, Jim, Nancy might be the girl for me, but I won't know until I get to know her better. I'm definitely not going to rush this relationship like I did with Jocelyn. It's a good thing that you found out right away that your relationship with Friezza wasn't going to work out, otherwise you might have ended up like me."

Jim played with his food for a bit, "I've never had any really solid relationships my whole life. Not with my family, not with anybody. I've never really had any desire for it either. But then I met Friezza and she brought out some longing in me that I've never felt before. Like I wanted settle down and actually get to know this girl, like I wanted her to be around me longer than a day, or a month, or a year.

"And I realized what I've been missing out on, all these people around me have these deep, lasting relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. I want that, but now that I want it, I can't seem to find anybody who wants it as well. Or, at least, not with me."

McCoy snorted, "Then what the hell does that make me?"

Jim raised his eyebrows and looked at him, "What do you mean?"

McCoy took a breath, he was not in favor of all this mushy, girl-stuff, but it's what Jim needs right now, and a doctor's first priority was to help the people around him, "I've never had someone stick around me as long as you have. Usually the gruff, sarcastic, and demeaning attitude scares them all away. Everyone except you," Leonard looked into Jim's bright blue eyes, the kid needed to know that he was one hundred percent serious, "No one has cared enough to look past the rough exterior to see me, as I actually am. Well, besides my parents and Jocelyn, but they're not in the picture anymore." McCoy pushed his bowl away, "I want you to know, Jim, how much I've appreciated you sticking with me. You should know that my actions are reciprocated. Whenever you need help you know I'm there, and whenever you need to talk over a bowl of ice cream, I will always have at least one ear willing to listen." Leonard grinned, "So you tell me what that makes me."

Jim's whole countenance had changed. It appeared to be brighter, stronger. A big grin was growing on his face. He nodded and pushed his finished ice cream away. Leonard paid and they left. Friezza was never mentioned again, Jim found ways to spend even more time with Bones, and whenever either was in need, they had ice cream at three in the morning.

* * *

The bar was smoky, and entirely too loud for McCoy. But of course he was dragged along for the ride. Jim had said he wanted to hook Leonard up with someone, what a lying son of a bitch. Jim just wanted someone to help pick up babes for himself. The doctor shrugged, not that he cared really, he had been avoiding the female population ever since his divorce, well, with the exception of Nancy of course. So he just sat there nursing a cheap bottle of beer and keeping an eye on his eccentric friend.

It was actually getting really late, and boy could McCoy feel it. Even though tomorrow was Saturday, he had to work a double shift at the hospital. The patients didn't need a grumpy doctor helping them out, well, more grumpier than usual. McCoy looked around to try and spot his wayward companion. The crowd was too damn thick, well great. He decided to take out his PADD, he would just have to leave Jim a message. He was just reaching into his medical bag when a commotion started at the other end of the room.

Having a sixth sense that concerned all things Jim, McCoy pushed through the cheering crowd. He stumbled out to witness Jim on the receiving end of a nasty right hook. Leonard waited on the sidelines, Jim was a big boy, he could take care of himself. But then again, he scratched his head, it looked like Jim was losing. He was on the ground and it looked like he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Time to intervene. McCoy calmly walked up to the man and tapped him on the shoulder, surprised by the sudden contact the bulky patron swung around. McCoy gave him a smile, "I would appreciate it if you would refrain from beating the shit out of my friend there." He pointed at Jim, who was looking at him as if he had grown another head.

The drunken man growled and swung a meaty fist at the doctor. McCoy dodged easily enough, the next one as well, until he was positioned behind the man. Then with precise, quick movements, Leonard struck at certain pressure points. There was a large crash as the man fell down.

There was silence throughout the whole bar. McCoy helped Jim up and guided him outside, "Let's get those injuries looked at, shall we?"

Jim just kept looking at him, "Bones, that was totally badass!"

* * *

Something slammed into his bed, McCoy grunted, "Go to hell."

"Come one, Bones, get up. I need some help."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Then go the hell away."

"Come on, I really don't understand this."

Bones lifted his head, Jim was holding up a couple of PADDs and looking at him with something utterly pathetic. Well, he was already awake, might as well humor the kid. McCoy grabbed his blanket and motioned towards the door, "Let's go out in the lounge."

He sat there rubbing his eyes and blinking, Jim laid out all the material and got comfortable on the couch. They both sat there for a minute until the kid picked up a PADD.

"Okay, so here's the situation: Klingons have decided to do negotiations with the Federation, they've sent the flagship to meet with them. But things get ugly and the whole Klingon crew, including the chancellor, are all murdered. The flagship notices something fishy so the Captain and CMO beam aboard. Eventually the Klingons accuse them of murder and they are sentenced to some remote world that's basically hell. Now, what would you do, if you were in the Captain's position?"

McCoy sat there and stared at Jim, just stared. Then he palmed his forehead, "Why the hell am I helping you with this?! Isn't this for your class in basic command? Why are you asking me? I have no interest or talent with negotiations or anything remotely connected to them."

Jim scratched his head, "Well, Bones, you're going to be a medical personnel, so you have to have at least some connection to negotiations and every field is connected to command. I just thought a new perspective on the situation would be refreshing."

"This is the most ridiculous situation I've ever heard of. Why just the Captain and the CMO? Why the hell would Klingons even think of talking to Federation? And why the hell am I still out here, contemplating a situation that will never ever happen?"

Jim shrugged and went back to studying the problem.

Bones rubbed his face, "You just wanted someone to be as miserable as you, didn't you? So you dragged me out here in the middle of the night, and you ask me advice about some stupid command problem from your precursor class. You want my advise, Jim? Take that PADD and shove it up where the sun don't shine."

"Oh, don't be that way, Bones."

McCoy snorted and stretched out on the couch, wedging his legs between the couch and Jim. He closed his eyes and got comfortable.

"But seriously, what would you do in this type of situation?"

* * *

There was some loud banging on the door as well as absurdly loud guffawing. Leonard decided to ignore it. Kyle, though, was pissed. He got up and opened the door. McCoy already knew who it was, but he was just so tired. His name was called a few times, loudly. Kyle walked over and shook him roughly.

He felt like slugging his roommate. But decided that for the better of the many, he might as well get up. Sitting up he looked at Jim. He was wasted, and so were his two companions. The kid waved lazily at him and grinned.

"Mornin' Bonesy, I need a favor."

McCoy rubbed the back of his neck, "What?"

"I need to borrow some money. You see, I need to rent a hotel room and maybe some more booze. Don't you think so." Jim's eyebrow's were going up and down like crazy.

A sigh, "I don't know, Jim."

"Oh come on, I'll pay you back."

McCoy snorted, "Like hell you will." But instead of arguing anymore he got up and grabbed his wallet, he took out enough to just barely cover the hotel room. He shoved them into Jim's waiting hand.

"Thanks Bonesy, I owe you one." Jim walked away, supported by the two lovely females on either side of him.

"You have no idea, Jim. No idea." He was never going to see that money again.

Tiredly he closed the door and locked it. He was exhausted, which meant that he was going to be catching up on sleep during his classes. Especially in his Starfleet 1010 class, they were going over engineering and physics and other useless things he didn't need to know. Shit.

* * *

That's all! See you all in another three days!


	6. That's Life

**Author's Note**: So just a little disclaimer, I'm sorry if the medical stuff in here isn't detailed and/or accurate, a lot of medical jargon flies over my head, I'm an art major, the farthest thing from medical stuff. So I apologize ahead of time if my hospital scene isn't the best. Also, I would like to know if anybody actually uses my links that I'm posting, I'm still going to post them, but it would be nice to know if people actually use them.

**Link:** There isn't a link on my profile, but I recommend you all go listen to That's Life, by Frank Sinatra and/or Michael Buble since I named the chapter after this song. I personally like the Buble version better, but it's the same song, so it shouldn't matter.

**Disclaimer:** The song That's Life, doesn't belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 6: That's Life

Sweat was running down the side of McCoy's forehead. It seems to be exceptionally hot in the classroom today. His seat was unusually uncomfortable, and even the tiniest noises seem to be so loud. And for the life of him, Leonard couldn't remember the answer to this question.

It was his last final of the semester. It was also his biggest final, and the one he was the most concerned about: Starfleet Overview. He had studied the different areas that make up a Starship crew and their responsibilities and general knowledge relentlessly the whole week, and had felt prepared, but that was before last night. The entire week he had convinced Jim to leave him alone and not to interrupt his sleep at night. It was probably the longest running period of time without interrupted sleep this whole semester. With all the excitement of last night, it seemed that all the knowledge in his head scrambled around or flew out the window.

Jim had called him at two in the morning saying that he might be in some deep shit. Like getting arrested or academic suspension kind of shit. Without a second thought Bones hopped out of the bed, turned the lights on (much to the annoyance of his roommate, pretty sure Kyle was screaming at him), and raced around the room putting clothes on, searching for his medical kit, and his wallet. He bolted down the corridors and almost got ran over several times on his way to the bar across from the campus.

The bar was big, and it was fancy. It looked like a place where Officers, instructors, or the big mugwumps would hang out. Not the kind of dive that Jim usually occupied. People were gathered around the outside of the entrance. McCoy had to shove and elbow to get to the doors. Inside there were still crowds of people standing around. In the middle were a couple of bodies lying on the floor and Jim kneeling beside one of them.

Leonard slid down next to Jim, the kid looked up. He looked wild, panicked, and lost. He grabbed onto Bones and words started spilling out of his mouth.

"We were just having a drink, talking over some stuff. This guy walked in. He had this look about him. He started going all crazy. Talking about the independence of some people or animal or something, and then suddenly he was burning this Federation flag and shooting. Not shooting at anything in particular, but just at everyone." Jim kept on talking, McCoy glanced around the room and saw other bodies littered around the floor, "We had to stop him, so he distracted the man while I went up behind him. The guy was like a wild dog, I-I couldn't think of anything to do, I had to protect these people! So I just took a hold of his head and," Jim made this twisting motion and was staring at a body, the doctor turned around and looked at the other body close by, sure enough the man was dead. Jim was still talking though, "-found him like this, please, please do something Bones. He can't die, please. The medics aren't getting here fast enough, there was an accident or something on the roads. Please, he can't die, please Bones-"

McCoy looked down at the person laying in front of them, on closer inspection he found out why Jim was freaking out so much. It was Captain Pike. Well shit and hellfire. First thing he did was give Jim a relaxant so that he would shut the hell up and let him get to work. He gently pushed the kid back, he needed all the room he could get. He pulled out a tricorder and passed it over the Captain's body (even though the possession of a tricorder outside medical facilities was illegal, McCoy found that he needed it more outside the facilities than in), there were only a couple of bullet wounds. Actual bullet wounds, the assailant didn't even have the decency to use a phaser, which would've cauterized the wounds.

Thankfully only one wound was near an area close enough to make the doctor edgy. But it didn't help the fact that Pike was bleeding out. Jim seemed to have possessed his wits enough to try and at least slow down the blood flow. McCoy didn't want to pull the bullets out now, since it would increase the escaping blood exponentially. So he gave the good Captain some clotting enzymes, wiped some disinfectant on and around the holes, and tarred strips of clothe to wrap around the wounds tightly. This was all he could do outside of the hospital, so Bones gave Pike some anesthesia and stood up.

Jim latched onto his legs, he was babbling something. Bones felt his eye tick, he grabbed Jim and stared at him directly in the eyes, "That's all I can do for him, Jim. They'll take the bullets out at the hospital, right now he's stable. Just stay with him; there are other people here that need my help." Jim was still looking at him and talking about something, suspension or jail or something. McCoy shook his head, he really didn't have time for this, "Kid, kid- Jim. It was self-defense, you're not going to get suspended for protecting people."

With that he went to the nearest body from them, it was an older man, McCoy shook his head: dead. He hurried to the next person, it was a young lady. Thankfully the bullet had only grazed her shoulder. He disinfected and got out his stitching kit.

"Isn't there a less barbaric way of helping her?" The young man beside her asked. His voice perpetuated high class and a snotty attitude. The young lady was trying to shush the man.

McCoy paused and looked at the man in the face until he could tell the man was starting to get cowed, "There's nothing compared to the reliable use of one's own hands to an unfeeling machine. I'm the doctor here, so why don't you let me do my job." He went back to stitching the young woman, she gazed at him with grateful eyes. He moved on to the next one. Some of them were dead, others had only broken an ankle. Bones had almost finished one half of the bar room when the sirens reached his ears and the medics burst in and spread throughout the room. McCoy went up to the Chief Medical Officer and was talking to her about the ones he had already treated. She nodded and thanked him for his help.

"If a doctor such as yourself hadn't of been here we could've lost so many more, thank you McCoy."

The police and photographers were there as well, interviewing the witnesses and searching the crime scene. Jim was in the thick of it. And boy did the kid look lost, but he was holding up well enough. To everyone else he might have looked calm, collected, and in charge, but McCoy knew better. He probably knew Jim better than anyone in the whole universe, and he didn't fool the old doctor one bit. So McCoy shoved some police away and stepped up to Jim's side, he put a supportive hand on his shoulder. Jim flashed him a grin.

After Jim had told the police every single detail of the event, they started pulling him away. McCoy stepped between them and held up a placating hand towards the law officers, "James needs sleep. After such a traumatic event, rest is the best thing for the body and the mind."

"We understand, sir, but we need to take Mr. Kirk back to the station for further questioning, we need-"

"I don't give a rat's ass about your needs, I'm this man's personal doctor, and I say he needs to rest and continue his regular school schedule. You can contact him tomorrow or the next day, but right now I think everyone needs to retire to their homes."

The officer looked at McCoy critically and then nodded, he turned to his men, "Okay, let's get this wrapped up and all these people out of here."

Leonard pulled Jim out into the cold night, the air out here was refreshing. Jim was tugging at his hold until the doctor stopped and turned to him, "I want to go the hospital and check on Pike."

McCoy glared at Jim, the nerve of this kid, "Absolutely not. Pike is going to be fine, he has family who can moan and whinge at his bedside, you're exhausted." They continued walking, "And may I remind you that you have several finals tomorrow, though they are later in the morning."

They finally reached Jim's dorm room, thankfully Jim's roommate was out about as much as Jim was, so there was no complaining as they entered. Leonard directed them towards the bathroom and sat Jim on the lip of the bathtub. He rubbed some salves into bruises forming on Jim's face and along his ribs. Passing the tricorder over his body didn't bring up anymore complications. Leonard then proceeded to supervise Jim getting ready for sleep, after minutes of complaining, Jim collapsed on his bed. Bones felt satisfied that Jim wouldn't get back up for anything. He checked the kid's alarm clock, and turned to leave.

"Hey Bones," McCoy turned around, "you're not my personal doctor."

McCoy rolled his eyes and muttered, "Sometimes I wonder, kid. Sometimes I wonder . . ."

By the time he had gotten back to his room, showered and thrown away his bloody clothes, and had grabbed a piece of bread to eat, it was time to go to his early morning final.

So what was the calculation for warp speed? He has no clue. McCoy knows it's somewhere in the back of his head, but everything in there was swimming by this time. He was tired. But it was simply ridiculous that all the knowledge in his head suddenly decides now to play musical chairs. Looking at the time, he quickly finishes the rest of the test. He prays that he can at least pass with a C.

"Okay, times up. Everyone bring your tests up to the front. If you wish to stay a few minutes after, I can have these tests corrected in a micro."

McCoy decides to stay behind and wait with a few other students. His shift at the hospital doesn't start for another hour. He implores a higher power that it was a slow day at work. The teacher comes back and shifts through the PADDS, the other students look at their score and leave with big grins. The teacher looks at Leonard and then back at his test. Oh great, either he did a fantastic job or he crashed and burned, and McCoy bet on the latter.

She motions Leonard to move closer to her desk, "Cadet McCoy," she pauses, "this is the worst score I've ever seen in this class."

Bones stomach drops, "I still pass though, right?"

The teacher shook her head, "No. The score isn't even close to a –C. Leonard, didn't you study at all? Didn't you take this test seriously?"

McCoy feels like he's in elementary school again, "Yes, I studied, I studied the whole damn week, from dawn to dusk."

"Well, it doesn't show."

"I'm sorry, I was out late last night and-"

"Partying before finals are even over, Cadet McCoy? Well, I hope retaking this class next semester will be prime motivation to be rigorous in your studies." She sighs, and look at Leonard with an air of disappointment, "A good majority of Starfleet recruit natural geniuses, but Leonard, some of us are just normal people who have to work hard to get what we want."

Wow, McCoy thinks, I think she just insulted me. Panic flares through him though, this couldn't be happening, "Please, Commander S'lathe, I need to pass this class. I won't be able to do my Practical Application next year if I don't pass this class this semester. Please, all I need is a C."

S'lathe shakes her head, "I'm sorry McCoy, I don't just let my students glide through my classes and then give them a fake grade at the end of the semester just so that they can move onto their focus. I'm terribly sorry." She gets up and leaves without giving McCoy a word in edgewise.

Leonard stands there for a minute, "Dammit!"

"Pike said he would like to see you, Doctor."

"That's nice."

"He insisted on thanking you personally for what you did last night."

"I'm busy, tell him that."

"But sir-"

McCoy turns around and leaves the corridor. It was busy at the Starfleet hospital today. Something to do with a flight training going haywire. Dealing with whiny cadets was the last thing he wants to handle, especially since he has a critical patient of his own that was on the edge of full recovery or death. But no, he can't concentrate on his patient, a patient that oddly reminds him of his father, he has to help check over the snotty brats. This day was just plain shitty.

Leonard hadn't had the chance to take even a cat nap, and the stress that was created from his last final this morning put him in a mood that made Captain Nogura look like a saint. So all the nurses, interns, and fellow doctors steer clear of him like he's the plague as he walks down the hallway. He finally reaches the section where all the cadets are being treated. McCoy looks at the man sitting down. The kid looks up at him.

"There's nothing wrong with you, leave."

The cadet flinches at the harsh tones, "But I think I did something to my wrist . . ."

"Go home and put some ice on it." McCoy starts over to the next cadet.

"But-"

McCoy sighs and sent a glare to the persistent young man, "There is nothing that can heal you better than your own body, plus a little suffering is good for the soul. Go home."

"I'll complain to your superior officer for the way you treated me."

Leonard snorts, while checking over the next patient, "I don't give a shit, go cry to your momma for all I care."

The cadet jolts up and storms off. Good riddance. The kid he was helping right now has a slight concussion. His skin was an odd color as well, or that could just be that he seems scared shitless of McCoy. The doctor smirks. He pats the kid on the shoulder and then stabs him with a hypo.

"You just have a slight concussion, it should be fine in an hour or so. Just don't drive any machinery, or sleep, or drink . . . in fact, don't do anything for an hour and then you should be fine."

Onto the next patient. It continues for another couple of hours, McCoy's patience was wearing thinner and thinner and by the time all the flight cadets are taken care of, the last ones are practically running away from him. Finally. He only had a couple of hours left in his shift, and then he would go home, drink, and hopefully disappear into oblivion.

At that moment he was being paged. McCoy listens for a second before he figures out where he was being paged to. Intensive Care. Shit.

Like a bat out of hell McCoy shoves anyone who's in his way as he races to the lift. He bursts into his patient's room and doesn't wait for the nurses to even start updating him on the situation. His patient, Evans, was having a seizure. Just as McCoy reaches the bedside, the seizure stops, but so did Evans' heart. Leonard curses and grabs a hypo, jamming it into the dying man's neck.

"Doctor! You don't know what affect that will have with the disease!"

McCoy ignores them, and seeing that the hypo has little affect on his patient, he tries to revive him the old fashion way. He shoves down on Evans' chest, he turns to one of his nurses, "Get the chargers ready, dammit!"

"Chargers are ready."

McCoy lifts the antique instruments, "Ready. Clear."

Nothing.

He does it again. And again. He would've kept doing it, but a nurse pulls at him and takes the chargers away, "That's enough, doctor. He's dead."

McCoy doesn't want to accept that, he couldn't. Evans had a life. A darling old wife and twenty-five children that called him Grandpa. He had a business selling antiques, and was about to receive an award in his town for being an outstanding citizen. He and his wife were going to travel the stars on their next anniversary, since neither had even been to the moon.

"Time of death: the 23rd of May, 2255 at 3 in the afternoon." The words escape out of his mouth, they left without his damn permission. McCoy turns to a nurse, "Record and patch through a line to Evans' wife to my office.

He walks slowly to the office that he shared with a fellow doctor. Thankfully it was empty. This was the hardest part, telling the family. Telling them that they had entrusted this loved ones life to a man that clearly wasn't competent enough to house that trust.

The viewing screen fizzes to life and Mrs. Evans' happy face appears, one look at the doctor though and her face crumbles. McCoy sends his condolences and apologizes: he wasn't good enough.

Afterwards McCoy goes to the break room, he needs something. Coffee, or preferably something with alcohol in it. But he wasn't allowed to drink while on duty, so coffee would have to do. A group of young interns were standing around chatting and laughing. Leonard just goes straight to the replicator.

"Oi, McCoy! Heard you just lost a patient."

Bones clenches onto his cup, he hates Phill with a fiery passion, the stupid intern had the loudest mouth born to man.

"Looks like you're taking it hard, but you shouldn't be so down. That disease is near impossible to cure in humans. Besides," Phill guffaws, "The man was an old gas bag, I think we should be thanking the higher powers that they snuffed out that man's life. He was just a useless human taking up space."

McCoy saw red, and the next thing he recollects is security dragging him off a bloody, unconscious Phill. Upon seeing the mess, sense slams back into the doctor. What the hell did he just do? He had totally lost all control and went haywire. His gut clenches, he was suppose heal not inflict the damage.

Security escorts Bones up towards the administrative offices. To his superior officer no doubt. The door slides shut behind him and McCoy stands there waiting for Corelli to acknowledge him. Leonard goes through the events over and over and over again. While he feels justified in his actions, he knows that this could have a damaging affect on his job, even on his career in Starfleet. Finally Corelli looks up and motions for Bones to take a seat.

He stares at the fidgeting doctor for a minute and then sits back and sighs, "You attacked an intern, McCoy."

"Yes, sir."

"I should just hand you over to the police or the 'Board. But let's analyze this a little bit." Corelli puts his hands together in a steeple, "From my understanding from Captain Pike, you assisted in the attack at Fluter's Bar early this morning and probably saved the Captain's life. Also this morning you had a final, no?"

McCoy nods, "Yes sir."

"How did that go?"

"Not so good sir."

"Now after the final you came to work, exhausted and stressed. All morning you had been helping with an overflow of helmsmen Academy students as well as checking on your patient Evans and searching for a solution to save his life," a pause, "that is, of course, what any outstanding doctor would do. Now, to my knowledge you had created a personal relationship with this patient."

"I do that with all of my personal patients, sir."

"Risky. A doctor could be emotionally compromised becoming so attached to an ailing being. Judgment could've been clouded. It's very unprofessional, in fact."

"Sir, with all do respect, I find that it helps the patient pull through more often than not."

"This is beside the point," Corelli waves a hand, "Your patient died, McCoy. Any doctor would've been affected by this. I understand that Intern Phillus was goading you, and that the two of you have never been on the best of terms." Corelli pauses and looks at the doctor in front of him, "Your reaction to his infantile words says a lot about you. I would commend you if I were any other person, but I run a hospital here, I'm in charge of all these patients as well as my doctors. I am thoroughly ashamed to have you working under me."

McCoy's chest tightens, he would've argued until he was blue in the face, but he knows that it would only have a negative affect on Corelli. So he takes the chastisement like a Christian, and keeps his mouth shut.

"I don't want to see this behavior ever again, I expect you to be in full control of your facilities while under this roof or so help me I will take you out myself. Clear? Good, this is your first and final warning, McCoy. You're on suspension until further notice. Dismissed."

Leonard nods, salutes, and leaves. All things considered, Corelli had let him off the hook. This was a simple slap on the wrist compared to what he could've done. It still sucks to high hell, though. Now he was out of a job for the foreseeable future, and he can't do what every fiber in his being was telling him to do: heal the injured.

McCoy walks the couple of blocks back to campus, trying to collect his thoughts and control his raging emotions. He perks up a little though as he nears his room. There was one good thing that could come out of today: sleeping in his bed, and calling his little girl.

Joanna was actually coming out for the weekend, and McCoy plans on giving his little girl his full attention despite the events of today. He was planning on calling her right away to find out when she would be arriving tomorrow. He can feel his whole attitude brightening at the thought of her.

Until he enters his room. At first he doesn't understand what's going on, only that his things are stuffed in boxes and someone else was unloading their shit on his side of the room. Neither the stranger nor Kyle notices him enter.

"What the hell is this?"

Kyle turns toward McCoy, a big smile growing on his face, "The manager is kicking you out. At least, out of this room. There's some old room at the far end of the dorm that he said you could have."

Leonard's bag hit the floor, "Why the hell is he kicking me out?"

Kyle's grin turns into a smirk, "I complained to him. Said that my roommate was keeping me up at all hours of the night, and that I didn't want to room with you for the rest of my years here. I mean really McCoy, you didn't think that having your little buddy bursting in every night and making all kinds of commotion wouldn't get you kick out? Have some common sense old man." Kyle turns to all his stuff, "Look, I packed it all up for you, ain't I the best? Now take all that shit, and get the hell out of here."

The universe hates him today, McCoy groans as he lifts the last box and treks towards the end of the hallway and down the end of another hallway until he reaches his quarters. The room was dumpy, in fact, it looks like it hasn't been lived in for some years. McCoy had already checked the bathroom and kitchenette: the water only ran in spurts, and few of the lights are actually working. There was dust everywhere; the window was actually caked in it, only letting in minimal light from outside. There was only one bed in here, but was thin and when McCoy had sat on it, the end came crashing down.

Leonard lowers down the box and sighs, he turns to close the door. It whirs for a minute before slowly starting to close, and then stopping halfway, Bones looks at it in disbelief. Even his damn door was broken! How the hell was he going to have privacy when the door wouldn't even close?! He looks around for something, and then spots the moth eaten sheet that covers his bed. He swipes it and walks up to the door. Pulling out some nails from his medical kit, he proceeds to hammer the nails into sheet across the door frame with his PADD.

Sighing, he looks around once more. He would unpack later, he decides, right now he needs to call Joanna, seeing her face would make him forget where he was. Hopefully the view screen was working. And after wiping the grit off the screen and hitting it a few times, the line patches through.

"Daddy!" Joanna's sweet little six-year-old face was beaming, little dimples popping up on those little cheeks. Damn, McCoy loves his daughter so much. She was the epitome of everything good in his life.

"Darlin'! Hey sweetheart, how you doin'?"

Joanna was practically jumping up and down as she regaled her father with her latest adventures at school and at home. They chat for awhile until the child calms down to a point.

"So what do you want to do while you're hanging out with your old man this weekend?" Leonard practically has his face touching the screen, if only he could hold her in his arms this very second!

"Oh! I want to go shopping, and the movies, and the zoo! And-and I want to go fishing! I haven't gone fishing in forever. I miss fishing with you dad."

"I know sweetheart, I know. We'll do all those things and more, now, what time is your mother putting you on the shuttle?"

Joanna was about to reply when she looks up at a noise in the background, she makes a face and turns back to her dad, "Mother says she wants to talk to you daddy."

"Well, you better let her then. I'll see you tomorrow, darlin'. I love you, Joanna."

"I love you too, Daddy."

As the face of his little angel disappears, the face of Jocelyn appears. She still looks as beautiful as ever, and damn if it feels as if a knife was plunging into his heart as Leonard greets his ex-wife.

"When are you putting Joanna on the shuttle tomorrow, Jocelyn?"

"I'm not."

The world seems to stop, McCoy shakes his head, "What?"

"I'm not letting her come visit you Leonard. I still don't feel safe letting her around you, especially alone. No, I'm going to take her to France with me this weekend, she'll absolutely adore it."

"No, no, no. Jocelyn, you can't do this to me, you promised I could see my little girl this weekend. The courts decided to allow that privilege, remember? I get to see my little girl."

"Only if I deem fit, Leonard. And I just don't feel right leaving her with you as I go off to France. No, I'm sorry Leonard, but Joanna isn't coming this weekend. Have a nice day."

McCoy stares at the blank screen. This couldn't be happening. McCoy grabs his hair and screams. What was with today?! Nothing went right today, everything just kept getting worse and worse and . . . dammit! Dammit it all to hell! Leonard doesn't even feel like sleeping anymore, he is just so angry. The universe hates him! And he hates the universe.

McCoy digs through his boxes, flinging things here and there, finally he finds his prized bottle of Kentucky Bourbon. He was going to sit here on this broken bed, breathe in the dusty, mildewy air, and get shit-faced drunk.

When it comes right down to it, McCoy wasn't really mad at anyone, no that wasn't right, he was mad at only one person: himself. He has only himself to blame for all the events of today. And that was the truth. So with that he silently salutes the universe and tips the bottle back.

Bone doesn't know how much time has passed, but he does know that someone has just walked in and turned on the lights, or at least, the ones that are kind of working. Which really pisses him off because the lights are killing his eyes. Grudgingly he lifts his head to see who the intruder was.

Jim was just standing there, looking at him. There might have been some sadness in his eyes, but it was gone before the doctor could really focus. McCoy snorts and motions for Jim to take a seat on the slanted bed next to him. Jim rubs the back of his neck and looks slightly sheepish, he doesn't move from his spot.

"I'm sorry."

McCoy's eyebrow shoots up, "The hell are you sorry for?"

"For getting you kicked out of your room." Jim looks around, his mouth twitching up a little, "This place looks like shit."

"It is shit."

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault, Jim."

"Yeah it is, if I hadn't of kept barging in every night this year, Kyle wouldn't have any reason to kick you out."

McCoy motions for Jim to join him again, this time the kid accepts. The doctor offers his bottle to the kid, but then realizes it was already empty. Disgruntled he tosses the bottle aside and it lands with a nice crash. Jim keeps looking at him, while trying to find a comfortable spot on the bed.

"Kid, I should be thanking you for pissing Kyle off so much. I think I would've left anyway, sooner or later."

Jim doesn't look like he was biting it, but he shrugs and starts grinning, "It took me forever to find this room. I didn't even know there was a room this far back in the building."

"You and me both."

"You know, this could be a pretty nice dig." Jim was calculating, "Hey, Bones."

Leonard grunts.

"Do you mind if I move in with you?"

McCoy snorts, "Why the hell would you willing choose to live here?"

"Well, once it's cleaned up a bit and fixed, it would be perfect."

"I don't care, do whatever you want."

Jim jumps up, "Awesome! Bones, this is going to be the greatest, now I don't have to come barging in on you, since it will just be my room too." He starts walking towards the door, "Let me go get my stuff . . . Oh hey! Joanna's coming tomorrow, right? I can't wait to see your little girl."

McCoy growls and flips around, maybe Jim would just shut up and leave him the hell alone.

There are some tentative steps, "Bones, Joanna is coming this weekend right?"

"Why the hell do you think I'm drunk, Jim? Because I was kicked out my room today? Because I failed my hardest class? Because I'm suspended from work? Hell, no."

Jim sits back down on the mattress, "That bitch. Jocelyn isn't letting you see Joanna?"

"No."

"She has to right? The court's allowing you visiting rights."

"Only if she sees fit to let me see Joanna. Something about a mother's intuition or something."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

Jim jumps a little bit, "Wait, what did you just say about your class and work?"

McCoy lifts his head and stares drunkenly at his friend, "I said that I failed my class and that I'm suspended from work. Can't you leave me alone, Jim? I'm exhausted."

"Why, didn't you get any sleep?"

"Dammit Jim, no I didn't. I was so tired this morning I couldn't remember anything I had studied this week. Teacher told me I had gotten the worst score she had ever seen in her life. And then it was straight to work where I had to assist in some cadet flight accident, and where my patient just up and died. Then I attacked an intern, and now I'm on suspension. Now leave me the hell alone, I'm tired."

Jim just sits there, "You attacked an intern?"

"Little snot totally deserved it."

Leonard was slowly falling asleep, Jim just keeps on sitting there. Finally he gets up and turns down the lights, McCoy watches his blurred outline disappear behind the sheet. It wasn't long until darkness finally came to claim him in sweet oblivion.


	7. The Day After

**Author's Note**: This chapter is a continuation of the last chapter. I do believe this is the only time I've done that. Hmmm, interesting *ponders*.

* * *

Chapter 7: The Day After

Light was shining on his face, it was annoying. Kind of like the raging headache torturing his brain. That wasn't the half of it though, where the hell was he? An even better question, what happened yesterday? Bones shifts and groans, dust fills his nostrils. And then he remembers.

The day from hell. Yesterday. Now McCoy wishes he was still sleeping, but the stupid sun was shining in his face. Wait, sunshine? He opens his eyes to see the sun shining through a nice clean window. How did that happen? Then there was a thump and a curse. The doctor slowly shifts his head the other way. Jim was underneath the bed, McCoy assumes he is trying to fix it, but with Jim it was always kind of hard to tell. Wait, if Jim was under the bed, then what was he sleeping on right now?

Leonard props himself on his elbows and looks down. It was a cot. He looks around. The place looks slightly cleaner and Jim's crap has piled up on his own which was shoved into a corner.

Jim scoots out from under the bed and glances at McCoy, "Bones! You're finally awake. How do you like the clean up so far?"

"I think I'm going to go into shock, didn't think I would see the day when the great Jim Kirk cleaned willingly."

Jim snorts and sits on the bed cautiously, it doesn't break. With a relieved sigh he starts grinning. With a sweep of his hand he starts, "With a little bit of dusting and stuff, this place will look brand new. Oh, I took a look at the water pipes because for some reason there's hardly any water coming out, turns out that most of them were clogged, with what, I have no idea. I then checked the lights, they just needed some new wires and they're as good as gold. Um, I couldn't fix the door, so let's just leave the sheet there for a bit." Jim studies the floor, "Also, there's some weird stains on the floor, I think we should just buy some rugs to cover them up."

McCoy looks at Jim, "How long have you been at this, kid?"

"Oh, a good majority of the night, you slept like a baby though." Jim's face brightens and he walks over to the cot, "So I figured I could construct some kind of bed thing and attach it to the wall right here for myself. We need to get another dresser though, because I am not sharing with you."

McCoy just stares at him, "Man you move fast."

Jim sits down next to McCoy, "I know. Oh! That reminds me, so I visited Commander S'lathe early this morning . . ."

Leonard was horrified, "Jim, you didn't-"

"Yup. I talked to her good and long. Told her the circumstances and about what you did the other night. I even told her I could get Captain Pike to vouch for you. Well, needless to say my powers of persuasion are amazing. She decided to switch your grade to a C." Jim slaps McCoy on the back, "So congrats, you passed Starfleet 1010."

McCoy just sits there, stunned. No one has ever done anything like that for him. Not in his whole nines years of medical school before Starfleet, or even secondary school before that. "Jim, I don't know what to think. Thank you."

"No problem, it's what you would've done."

And Jim was right; Leonard would've done the same thing if he were in Jim's position. Hell, the things he did for this kid astounded him sometimes.

"Well, now that you're awake, you need to get cleaned up and ready to go."

McCoy turns to him, "Why?"

Jim grins, oh how he hates that grin, the kid was up to something. "Well, it just so happens that there's this girl that I wanted to hook you up with. You know you need to get out more, meet the ladies."

Bones holds up his hands, "Now wait one damn minute, if I'm going to meet a girl, I want to do it on my own terms. You know how I feel about blind dates."

"Oh come on, Bones. She coming in all the way across the country, don't let it be a complete waste."

"Wait, so you're having a friend of yours come in from across the country just to go on a date with me?"

"Pretty much. I've told her all about you, and she really wants to meet you. And on a side note, she's freaking hot."

McCoy shakes his head, but gives in. It's not like he has anything to do this weekend. He gets up and digs into the pile of their belongings, pulling out items that he was pretty sure were his. Stepping into the shower, he stops short, "Hey Jim? What's this stuff around the edges of the shower?"

Jim's voice filters back to him, "I have no idea, let's just stay away from it for awhile, k?"

Awesome.

McCoy shifts again. Jim gives him an annoyed look. Well, he can't help it, dammit. Blind dates always make him nervous. All they are doing is sitting here at the terminal, waiting for the shuttle to come and he hates waiting.

"Dammit Jim, how did you talk me into this?"

Jim sighes, "Just relax, she's not going to bit your head off."

"You never know. What's her name anyway?"

Jim stiffens a little, he was about to reply when he spots the shuttle coming in, "There it is! Come on."

McCoy rolls his eyes, the kid could get excited for just about anything. They stand a couple feet back from the lowering ramp. The crowds of people are coming out and Leonard was afraid that they wouldn't be able to catch Jim's friend in all the confusion.

"Daddy!"

A small force bowls into Leonard. He knows that voice. Looking down he saw his little angel looking back up at him. Pure emotion slams into him and McCoy's knees buckle. His little girl. His sweet little Joanna was right here. There are so many nights that he imagined what it would be like to hold her again.

"Jo-Joanna." The name chokes out. He envelopes her in his arms, kissing her forehead, and whispering her name.

Finally McCoy remembers the person responsible for this, he turns his head towards Jim, and damn if his eyes aren't threatening to spill over. Jim looks positively beaming, so pleased with himself, "How'n the hell did you get her here?"

"Well, let's just say I had a loooong late night chat with a Miss Jocelyn. After a while I convinced her to see my way of thinking. It took some creative finagling, and maybe a threat or two, but you can see for yourself the result."

"Thank you."

Jim nods. McCoy turns back to his daughter, "Was the trip alright, sweetheart. Nothing went wrong on the shuttle did it?"

Joanna rolls her eyes, "It didn't blow up like you're always telling me it will. In fact, it was a blast! I love riding in the shuttles."

Jim snorts, Bones glares back at him, but then returns to his girl, "Joanna, I would like you to meet my friend and roommate, Jim Kirk."

Joanna glances up at Jim, she scans his whole body length, she nods, but still looks skeptical, "You'll do."

Jim raises an eyebrow, "I'll do for what?"

"For watching over my daddy when I'm not around." She leans in closer and tries to whisper, "He's gets into the worst of trouble, you know."

Jim throws back his head and laughs, "I do know, Miss Joanna." His eyes twinkle, "Thanks for your approval, I'll endeavor to watch over your father and keep him in line."

"You better, or I'll hunt you down and tie you up like a wild hog."

"Joanna!"McCoy stands up, "That's no way to treat a friend."

Jim waves it off, "Actually, I think I'm quite intimidated now. Bones, it looks like I'm going to be on McCoy watch for awhile. Now," he straightens up his shirt, "I've got to report to the police and visit Captain Pike as well as try to fix up that dumpy place we call our quarters, so you two run off and have some fun so that I can get some work done."

"Do my ears deceive me, or are you actually maturing before my very eyes?" Amusement flits through McCoy, he smirks at Jim.

Jim looks about ready to slug him, but glancs at the little girl clutching Bones' hand, "What are you talking about, Bones? I've always been like this."

McCoy scoffs but flicks a finger at Jim's forehead, "Well what are you waiting for, the Queen of England to come send you off?"

Jim grins and starts walking away, he shouts over his shoulder, "I told you you would like this girl, I always pick up the best blind dates for you!"

Leonard makes a noise and turns back to Joanna, "So what do you want to do today, darlin'?"'

Joanna starts jumping up and down squealing, "Let's go fishing! Let's go fishing!"

McCoy's laugh was deep and hearty, "Ok, ok. Let's go fishing!"

* * *

That's it! Look forward to my next update in three days. "A Doctor Walks into a Bar . . . Ouch!"


	8. A Doctor Walks into a Bar

Chapter 8: A Doctor Walks into a Bar . . .

"Where are we going again?"

Jim rolls his eyes, "We're going to a bar."

"No shit, Captain Obvious, I meant where exactly?"

"Bones, does the destination really matter?"

It did if said destination costs him his sanity, McCoy thinks darkly. But in the end the destination doesn't really matter, Jim and himself are going to spend their last free night before school starts back up drinking and saluting to their two weeks off where they did absolutely nothing. Also, Bones was leaving tomorrow for his Practical Application. It was just a required amount of time that medical personnel had to fulfill out on the field. A couple of months tops. In a location that was kept secret until you were strapped in to your shuttle seat. Leonard hated that, why couldn't they just tell us where we were going? What's with all the secrecy? One of his classmates said the ambiguity of it made it very exciting and real life. Like hell it did. Personally, he would rather be somewhat in control of his situation.

Jim didn't really like the news either. McCoy had refrained from telling the kid about his impending departure until after the last semester had ended. Jim had been quiet for awhile, asked a couple of questions, and then declared that they would celebrate the doctor's glorious hands-on training the night before he left.

So here they were, at some unknown bar, checking out the female population's asses, and drinking until their livers gave up the ghost.

McCoy takes another swig of his mint julep, he shudders at the thought of being on a shuttle tomorrow, wait, he checks his watch, being on a shuttle later this morning actually. He groans, Jim might think he was lucky for getting to study somewhere that was not San Francisco, but he would trade the kid in an instant.

"Hey, do you think I get to call you and stuff while you're doing this practical-life-experiencey thingy?" Jim leans heavily over to him.

Bones shifts a little, somewhat repulsed at Jim's obvious state of inebriation. He looks down and swirls his drink around, "I would think so, but I guess it depends on where they're sending us."

Jim puts an arm around Leonard's shoulders, "I'm sure going to miss you, Bonesy. Our dumpy room isn't going to be the same without your matching attitude. What am I going to do when I get all scraped up, huh? I'm not going to have my personal Nurse McCoy to tend to my every need and whim. Who's going to scare off all the lovely ladies with their 'I'm more ancient than time' aura? Who's going-?"

"Ok, ok, I get the picture, Jim. You're going to miss me. Bunches, by the sound of it." McCoy rolls his eyes; it amazes him that he has stuck around Boy Wonder as long as he has. He gazes back over to Jim who was trying to impress a pretty red-head by attempting to balance a bottle of alcohol on his head. A grin flits over his face, sometimes he has to wonder.

Suddenly a man took the bottle from atop Jim's head. The guy was a little older than Jim, but probably not McCoy's own twenty-eight, he was burley and balding, probably training to be security. Jim looks him up and down, recognition crosses his face. Not the 'oh hey, it's my long lost friend!', more like 'oh shit, there's that jock that I pissed off yesterday!'. Jim looks at Bones, and then back at the man holding his beer.

"Hey, you have my beer." Jim's pointing finger wavers around a little.

"You owe me. No one makes me look like a fool, especially not some snotty-nosed farmer boy."

Jim scoffs, "Trust me, you didn't need any help, you were doing fine embarrassing yourself," Jim turns to McCoy, the doctor could've killed the kid for involving him in this, "He was all talking about what he would do if there were invaders onboard the ship, it was the most idiotic-"

"Hey!" The guy pulls Jim up by the front of his shirt. "Shut the hell up."

"Or what?"

The bottle smashes into Jim's head, the shards bursting around him like a halo. He falls forward, unconscious. McCoy stands up, obscenities on his lips, when a blinding pain erupts in the back of his head. A pair of arms stop him from crashing into the counter, but then the world dissolves sickly into blackness.

* * *

It was hot, really hot. His mouth feels like sandpaper and sweat was rolling down his body. The pounding in the back of his head feels like it was going to overtake his senses. Slowly McCoy opens his eyes. Bright. Why the hell was it so bright? His pupils finally dilate enough so that he can open his eyes completely. Leonard slowly sits up, acutely aware that the pain in his head would send him crashing back to the ground if he wasn't careful.

Desert, all around. He could've been on Vulcan for all he knew if it wasn't for the fact that his surroundings felt so "Earthy". The sun was twenty-three degrees high in the sky, so that meant McCoy had been lying in the heat for roughly two hours. Not a good idea if you want to avoid heat stroke. Looking around and he confirms that there was nothing within sight, no building, water, or person. Well, scratch that, there was one person he could see.

Jim was laying face down a few feet away. Worried, Bones stumbles to him. His pulse was steady, and besides the fact that he was probably on the verge of heat stroke, he was good. Except for the bump on his head and the places where several small pieces of glass are poking out of his scalp. McCoy curses the fact that those thugs took his medikit, highly inconsiderate that. He nudges Jim. The kid groans, but otherwise doesn't make any indication of moving. So the doctor decides to pinch him, hard.

Jim pushes himself straight up, gasping, and proceeds to throw up. McCoy grimaces, maybe he should have woken the kid gently. The doctor sits back on his haunches until Jim was done, waiting for him to orient himself with his surroundings. Jim looks at McCoy.

"Damn."

Leonard nods, "That about sums it up." He motions wildly, "Jim, why is it you always piss off the wrong people and then get me involved?"

Jim grins, "It's a gift."

"Well your 'gift' has landed us in a pickle." And then Leonard remembers, and starts to panic, "Shit! My shuttle leaves at eleven!"

Jim's eyes widen. He looks around, then starts searching his pockets. McCoy raises an eyebrow, "The hell are you doing?"

"Trying to see if baldy and his men in tights took my PADD or communicator."

Damn, he should've thought of that. He starts searching his pockets as well. A grin appears as his fingers brush against the smooth surface in his pocket. He pulls out his PADD triumphantly and starts waving it around.

Jim stares at it for minute, and then snatches it from Leonard's fingers. The doctor protests: he could use the damn thing just as well as this snot-nosed kid.

Jim glances at him and sees the scowl, "Oh don't be such a sourpuss, Bones. I just happen to know the code to patch us through to your shuttle. They'll come by and pick us up, I think."

"How do you know the code to the shuttle I'm going on?"

Jim has the grace to look somewhat embarrassed, he shrugs and mumbles something about looking it up yesterday, and keeping tabs and such. The thought that Jim was going to follow McCoy's journey electronically would've been creepy coming from anyone else. But he knows that Jim is just concerned. Leonard knows that he is probably Jim's first real friend, and as such, probably afraid to lose him. It warms the doctor's heart to know someone cares that much about him. And Jim's actions could be from the fact that Jim swears up and down that when left to his own devices, McCoy attracts trouble like no other. McCoy denies it whole-heartedly, claiming that it was only through his association with Jim that leads him to trouble. Leonard looks around the desert, obviously he was right.

"Alright, so your teacher knows of the situation and says that they'll swing by to pick us up, they're going to drop me back off at San Francisco. This hands-on class must be pretty important if your teacher is willing to come out here to get you."

Bones rubs his eyes, "It's only for a couple of months, Jim."

"I still don't like it."

"I know."

"Be safe, ok?"

"I will."

* * *

There you have it! Next up: Practical Application (dum dum dum!) I'll also be updating early because I'm going camping this weekend (Yay!), so look forward to a new chapter on Thursday!


	9. Pratical Application: Straleb

Chapter 9: Practical Application: Straleb

"We need to bring down her blood pressure, it's too high for my liking. Dammit! Cadet, didn't you hear me? Nurse, give me that hypo!"

_Boom!_

"Doctor, those shells are coming in pretty close, we need to pack up and move!"

"We finish with this woman, we move when I say we move! Cadet, I thought I told you to bring down that blood pressure!"

"Yes, sir!"

_Rat a tat tat!_

"Doctor!"

"I know, dammit! She's almost stable. Are the rest of the patients and doctors away?"

"They moved out a half hour ago, doctor."

A high whining noise pierces they're eardrums, it was getting louder. Leonard glances upward, shit.

"Everyone take cover!"

The building shakes around them, the structure hardly holding together. Bits of it collapsing, thankfully the ceiling was still holding. McCoy looks around and then back at his patient, he just needs to close the opening and then they could retreat. He pulls out the dermal regenerator and passes it over the opening, it was just a quick fix, and he would have to redo it once they reach a more secure location.

"Okay, let's move out!"

They push the gurney through the hallways, dodging fallen debris while trying to keep their balance as the explosions shake the ground like an eight point nine earthquake. A Stralebian soldier moves ahead, raising his weapon and ready. He pauses at the gaping opening, searching the area for unfriendlies, he signals to the medical staff behind him: clear.

McCoy looks around him suspiciously; he has been doing this ever since his unit had been ambushed some weeks before. They strap the injured woman in the bed of their vehicle and climb in themselves and then they're off. They weave in and out of blown up structures. The road out of the city was obliterated, but their tiny transport takes the dips and crags with ease.

Once they reach the country road there is a collective sigh of relief. McCoy checks the patient again, she was stable. He turns to the nurse, "Make sure to replace the plasma bag when that one is finished."

The young nurse nods. Bones rubs his face and turns to the cadet, he points a finger into his chest, "When you freeze up people die, cadet. Remember that. If you can't handle this than Starfleet isn't for you."

The cadet was pale, he nods. Truthfully, they were both cadets, they were both in the same class: Practical Application. McCoy snorts, his first thoughts of this class was that they were going to ship them off-world to work at some Starbase to use their skills out on the field. He looked around, well, they were out on the field alright. Straleb and its sister planet, Altec, were usually very peaceful planets. It just turned out that civil war erupted on Straleb.

The planet was a member of the Federation, so Starfleet had offered military assistance. The government refused, but they would accept a little help from Starfleet's medical personnel. So here he was, in the middle of war. Leonard had decided that this had to be the worst class in all of Academy. He hadn't even been able to contact anyone outside the planet, since the government had decided to cut all communications to the universe. This was their problem, they would deal with the rebels.

But it sucks if you are in Starfleet. It has been two and a half months since he has said hi to his little girl, two and a half months since he has whispered sweet nothings to his girlfriend, Nancy. That is, if she hasn't already left him for some other guy. Leonard shakes his head, Nancy wasn't like that, she was very kind and gentle. She would wait until he was home to dump him.

A bump in the road almost sends the good doctor flying out of the vehicle, he glares at the soldier, "Watch the road, will'ya! We have someone injured back here!" The soldier just nods.

McCoy huffs. Sometimes he really wishes Jim was here. Jim. That kid has to be sick with worry; that or he was getting drunk every night and partying because Bones wasn't there to hold him in check. McCoy had assured Jim before he left that they would most likely be able to keep in contact. Yeah, that was obviously a load of bullshit. He just hopes the kid stays out of trouble.

The nurse changes the plasma bag. The nurse, what was her name again? Well, whatever her name was, she was pretty good. From what he gathered from her, she was Stralebian, one of the youngest people to pass the tests that allows her to practice medicine. Apparently her brother dissented and joined the rebels, she didn't know if he was alive or not.

"Are you alright, sir?"

McCoy startles and looks at the nurse. She was looking pointedly at his ribs where he was unconsciously rubbing his arm back and forth. Oh yeah, it seems that getting thrown back by a concussive explosion into a wall hurt and results in bruised ribs. Who knew.

Leonard waves his hand, "It's just protesting a little. They're healing up nicely, much better than they were a couple of days ago."

She nods.

It was dark and by the smell in the air, it was going to rain very soon. McCoy told the soldier to hurry up and get them back to the base; he doesn't need his patient to get a cold on top of everything.

The rain starts falling when they pull into base. Their unit quickly transfers the injured woman into the medical tent. McCoy proceeds to clean up and finish what he had put aside. This woman would live, thank God. So many don't though. That thought hurt the most. He was a doctor, someone who, for as long as he could remember, has wanted to stop the pain of the people around him. To make them healthy and happy.

With a snap McCoy returns his instruments into their proper places and cleans up. He checks the woman one last time. With a nod he turns away, pauses. He really should get something to eat. He shakes his head and passes by the mess tent, it has been a long time since he really has had an appetite. War did that to a person, he guesses. Leonard makes his way to a second medical tent. This one was smaller. It was for the children.

He likes to visit them whenever he can. It was torture. These children are sometimes no older than four and younger than sixteen. Many have scars that would never completely go away. Limbs that they can't afford to replace. It breaks his heart.

"Lenny!" Several children cry out in excitement.

Leonard smiles and makes his way over to the small group that was still awake.

He sits down on one cot and picks up the six year old girl occupying it. She smiles up at him sweetly, one green eye was missing though. His heart clenches and he refuses the tears to come. This could be his daughter, his little Joanna.

"You come to tell us a story, Lenny?"

McCoy looks at all the expectant faces, "You bet."

It was morning, he was feeling a little disorientated. This wasn't the tent where his cot was. He looks down at the little girl in his arms and tries to shift, but finds that there was another child snuggled up to his back. McCoy sighs, he wishes he could just lay here holding and comforting these children, but he has work to do.

Slowly he shifts, sitting up. The child at his back moves but doesn't wake. McCoy thanks whoever was watching over him for that bit of luck. He gently lays little Sa'hai back on the cot, he pulls the blanket over the two and kisses their foreheads before he turns to leave.

As he leaves the children's medical tent he hears his name called, Leonard turns to see his CO jogging towards him.

"Dammit McCoy, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

McCoy bows his head slightly, but doesn't apologize. Everyone around him has gotten use to the obstinate attitude by now. His commanding officer claps a hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"I've got great news McCoy. It seems Starfleet is sending down a shuttle, your class is over." A pause, "You get to go home, McCoy. Congratulations."

Leonard doesn't feel like celebrating. This wasn't some class where he got grades, this was war. These people need help. It seems that his officer saw the steely glint in McCoy's eyes for his grip became a bit harder.

"You're being sent back, McCoy, that's an order."

"These people need help. Not to act like a disobedient teenager, but I'm a doctor first and then I'm a member of Starfleet second."

The CO nods, "We appreciate your conviction, we really do McCoy. What you have contributed to the universe medically has us in your debt, but this is no time to play hero." McCoy was about to protest, but the officer raises a hand, "They're sending down another group for their Practical Application to replace you. This transfer won't hurt the people down here."

"Maybe I don't trust other people to be as good as I am down here."

"You are one cocky son of a bitch, McCoy."

Leonard smirks, "Is it cockiness when you actually know you're one of the best?"

The CO rolls his eyes, "Just get your things together and be at the landing platform at 0730. We'll drag you onto that shuttle if we have to."

McCoy huffs, they might have to drag him onto the shuttle, considering his extreme dislike of those contraptions. In fact, he feels a little lightheaded just thinking about it. Leonard looks behind him. There wouldn't be any time to say goodbye to the children. This was so abrupt, he doesn't like it. Then again, he would be going home finally. Back to his girlfriend, back to his best friend. Back to a place where he can call up his little girl. Back to normalcy. Like Dorothy Gale always said, "There's no place like home".

* * *

The floor was vibrating softly underneath his feet. The starship they are on was heading back to Earth. In fact, they would reach the planet in less than a day. It seems so surreal. Leonard doesn't bother trying to look spiffed up and nice like the rest of his class who haven't stopped talking about what they were going to do once they set foot on terra.

McCoy hasn't even taken a shower yet. He still smells like dirt and death. His hair was all matted with sweat and the rain from the night before. A couple days' beard growth was clearly showing through on his dirty face and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. His clothes are torn, muddy, and bloody.

A PADD was lit up before him. A little form he has to fill out for the class. It seems so insignificant. Their professor had given them some time before they had to complete it, but his was almost finished. He reads over it again, glancing over the place where it says his scheduled time to meet with one of the Academy's psychiatrist. All students have to see one after taking this course.

His eyes finally settle on the last question of the class evaluation. _How was your experience?_

McCoy couldn't really think of the answer. How was the experience? He just doesn't think he could fit it all down in words. After much deliberation, he jots down his very short answer, but it just seemed appropriate.

_It was Hell._

_

* * *

_

It was late when the shuttle touched down at the Academy. McCoy was exhausted. He stumbles and drags his luggage down the hall of the apartments. Students that were still up were giving him weird looks. He doesn't give a shit. He doesn't give a shit about a lot of things lately. The last room at the end of the hallway looks heavenly.

He pushes aside the curtain, and thought for a moment he was hallucinating.

Jim was lying on his cot-bed-thing, studying. Maybe he died and went to heaven because Leonard has never seen this, ever. Sure enough though, Jim was studying and munching on carrots (carrots!). Jim hasn't noticed him in the doorway. Well that was just fine, it gives McCoy a minute to look around, familiarize himself with the surroundings again.

The room looks better. There are rugs covering up the stains on the floor, a couch in one corner, albeit a rather beat up looking couch, and scandalous pictures of women hung on the walls. McCoy rolls his eyes. Jim looks fine. Well, at least he wasn't dying or something. He looks more mature. Of course, the doctor could only see the back of him, so that really wasn't a good way to judge one's character.

"I leave for a couple of months and you turn this place into a damn playboy magazine."

Jim yelps and practically falls off his bed. He spins his head around so fast McCoy thinks for certain it would break. The kid stares at him for a minute, as if he wasn't sure if Leonard was actually here, then his face lights up like Christmas.

"Bones!"

Before he knows it, McCoy was swept up into a hug. A manly hug. His ribs are screaming at him, or rather, they are screaming at Jim, 'What the hell are you doing? We feel like shit!'. He feels happy to be here, to be around his friend again, he really does. But his happiness was overshadowed by loss and sadness. Solemnly he releases Jim and goes over to deposit his bag on his bed (rubbing his sore ribs). Jim was following him like a lost puppy. He was practically jumping from one foot to the other. McCoy could see the questions in his eyes, questions he doesn't want to answer, doesn't think he can answer.

"So where'd you go? Your teacher said I couldn't contact you at all, which was really bitchy of her. I would've tried anyway, but I didn't know where you were. Was it totally awesome being on another planet, doing medical stuff? Any hot girls? . . . Oh wait, you already have a girlfriend. Any hot girls you can hook me up with? Come on, man, I need something to work with, I've been Bones deprived for months!"

McCoy really wants to smile, laugh, and pretend that everything was wonderful, but the sad reality of it was that it wasn't wonderful and he doesn't feel like smiling or laughing. He knows this was going hurt Jim, but he just wants some space, he wants to be alone.

A smile struggles to form on his lips, "I don't really feel like talking about it, Jim. I'm just going to clean up and go to bed, ok?"

Jim's happy expression falters a little. His piercing blue eyes are looking Bones up and down, calculating, searching for the problem, the solution. He was probably just realizing what the doctor looks like, what with the blood and dirt all over, the stubble, and the hair sticking out at odd angels. McCoy ignores it and moves his way to the bathroom. He feels guilty, but it would get better. It has to get better.

* * *

Sniffle, poor Bones! Well, that's it for this week. I'm off on vacation now, I'll be updating on Monday, see ya!


	10. Of Parents and Children

Chapter 10: Of Parents and Children

There was another moan. Leonard looks up from his notes. He has a class to teach in an hour, the kids are more stupid than dirt. They don't know the first thing about xenobiology, in fact, most of them probably haven't even seen an alien in real life. He wasn't really the lecturing type, McCoy thought, he prefers to be in the thick of it, doing surgeries and finding new antidotes for diseases that the universe didn't even know existed yet.

Jim was acting all twitchy, Bones scowls at him, "Jim, I can't concentrate on preparing for my class when you're acting all pitiful. Go moan somewhere else."

"Bones," Jim was picking at his sleeve, "can I come listen in on your class today?"

"The hell do you want to do that for?"

"Well, I'm supposed to meet someone today . . . and I really don't won't to."

McCoy's eyebrow rises, "How unlike you, Jim. You would rather sit through a boring lecture about xenobiology than socializing. Is it that new chick you picked up last week?"

Jim's face goes red, he mumbles, "No."

"Okaaay, well the answers no, Jim. I'm not letting you into my class, you'll just goof around and distract me."

Jim gets up, he goes into the bathroom. McCoy sighs, finally. With Jim getting ready for the day, he would have a least a couple minutes of peace. It was roughly ten minutes later that Jim was just standing in the middle of the room. The doctor sighs again, he would never get his work done with this kid around. Putting down the PADD he gives Jim all his attention.

"So who is it that you're supposed to be meeting?"

Jim gives him an anxious look, "My mom."

Well, that was a surprise, "Winona? She on shore leave or something?"

Jim nods, "She called me and said that since we're going to be in the same place, we might as well catch up."

McCoy studies Jim's tight face, "But there's not much to catch up on, huh?"

Jim shakes his head, and then looks at his friend, "Well, better go, I don't want to keep her waiting."

"Jim!" the kid turns back to him, "Just think of this as good practice."

"Practice for what?"

"Well, it will help you brush up on your skills of being polite in negotiations with people you don't like."

Jim flashes him a grin, "I hadn't thought of it like that. Thanks Bones, see you later."

It was, in fact, not until 2000 that McCoy pushes aside the sheet (they still haven't gotten the door to work) and walks in on Jim and an older woman just staring at one another. Winona was still a beautiful woman, but her blond hair was streaked with grey. Worry lines stand out on the milky skin. Leonard was just looking back and forth between the two, neither notices him standing there in the doorway.

Well, he was feeling slightly uncomfortable and intrusive. Bones clears his throat. The two Kirks swivel their heads in his direction. Ok, maybe he should've left them alone. One look at Jim, though, and McCoy knows that he has made the right decision. The darkness in his face lifts, he strides over to the doctor and drapes an arm across his shoulders.

"Mother, this is my roommate, Bones. Er, I mean, Leonard McCoy. He's a doctor."

Winona looks Bones up and down, clearly skeptical about something. She tilts her head, "Leonard sounds like a responsible name. I trust you aren't acting like a teenager and getting drunk and into bar fights all the time?"

McCoy glances at Jim, the kid's face was tight, his eyes smoldering, "Er, no. At least, I don't go out and drink too much. I try to avoid the fights as much as possible."

Winona loosens up and smiles, "You're keeping my boy out of trouble I suspect."

He nods, "He's awful lucky to have a doctor as a roommate." He smirks at Jim, but then turns back, "but honestly, Jim's been doing a lot better at not getting drunk and into fights as much as when I first knew him."

She nods, but casts a doubtful glance at her son, "So what's your emphasis in Starfleet, doctor?"

It was really starting to feel like he was in the middle of something, maybe he should end this conversation soon. "Oh uh, I'm studying psychology, especially the effect that deep space has on people in close quarters."

Winona nods, "Interesting, maybe you can explain this topic more in depth for me."

Leonard tilts his head in acknowledgment, "I would love to, but I need to get cleaned up, and get started on some homework. If you'll excuse, Jim, Winona, it was nice meeting you." He makes a break for it, dumping his bag on the bed and making a beeline for the bathroom. He could barely hear the two voices in the other room over the spray of the water. Damn, he hopes Winona was gone by the time he gets out.

Taking his sweet time showering and brushing his teeth, he finally emerges from the bathroom. The water vapor rushes out behind him, escaping into the colder room and disappearing. Jim was sitting slumped on his bunk. Leonard sat cautiously beside him, he still didn't know if the makeshift bed could hold both of their weight; it was only bolted to the wall after all. McCoy studies Jim, the kid was solemn. The doctor has seen that look plenty enough.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Ok, then I'm going to study for my Anatomical and Forensic Pathology class. I suggest you put in some studying hours also." Bones lifts a finger, "A student cannot just rely on genius alone."

Amusement crosses Jim's features, but then they go back into that gloomy look. Leonard shrugs and digs around his desk to find his Pathology PADD. This was actually a class he really liked and excelled at.

"Bones . . . I don't . . . what is it like . . .? Uh, shit. Maybe I do need to talk about it."

Leonard tilts his head in Jim's direction, the kid was a ball of nerves. Shifting into an upright position, he puts on his best 'I'm a psychologist, I'm listening' look. Hmmm, maybe he should charge Jim for this session. A smirk fights its way onto McCoy's face, but he beats it back down. No use in letting Jim see him with a big goofy grin.

Jim starts pacing, "I just hate the way she acts around me. Like she's my mother, like she actually cares about me and my life; and then in the next instant she's acting like I'm the spawn from hell, out to spread mayhem and debauchery!"

McCoy lifts an eyebrow, it was a rare instance when Jim used big words like 'debauchery'. He internally shakes himself; he needs to concentrate on Jim and not weird quirks cropping up. It was good that the kid was releasing his emotions along with his darkest thoughts. Leonard knows Jim wouldn't bring down his walls for anyone, anyone except for the doctor. That thought brings warmth to McCoy, to know that he was the only one in the entire universe that Jim willingly confides in. It was also a heavy and solemn burden, but one that he gladly took up.

"She thinks she can be the judge of my life because she's my biological mother." Jim snorts, "She's never been there in my entire life, yet she acts like I should act and treat her as if she was." He clenches his hands into fists, "She just assumes everything in our relationship should be perfect." He slumps down on McCoy's bed, resting his head in his hands, "I want our relationship to be better, I want to be able to love her like other people love their parents. I can't though, and I hate her for it, but I mostly hate myself for it."

Leonard leans forward, he didn't really know what to say to the kid. If he was truthful with himself he sucks at giving comfort and advice. Makes him wonder why he was specializing in psychology. For now he would give the kid some space and hopefully send him in a direction where Jim could square with this someday. "You know it's perfectly normal to resent parents, every kid resents their parents at some point in their lives. Maybe you should look at this whole mess in a different light."

Jim looks like he doesn't want to hear anything Bones has to say, well that was just too damn bad. "Why don't you think of it from Winona's perspective? She lost her husband in a tragic event, the same day she is blessed with a beautiful baby boy. A child is such a big responsibility. Especially two children. While feeling the deep ache of losing her companion, she had to try and figure out how she was going to support two young children on her own. Winona was probably scared to death." McCoy takes a breath, he knows this was hard for Jim to hear, "She went to the first person she could think of who would help her: your uncle.

"Now I'm not going to pretend to know all the reasons of why she continued her career in Starfleet, but I'm guessing a part of her did want to run away from the pain of her previous life. To be reminded that she will never have her husband back must have been awful. Some couple's bonds are strong and deep. But another reason for leaving could be that she needed a way to support her family, and the only way she knew how was to pursue her life among the stars." He takes a deep breath, "She probably feels the regret of never being a strong influence through your life, she probably curses herself for always being a parent who was never there when needed. But I can guarantee that she always thought of you and continues to love and support you."

Jim's look was piercing and penetrating, it was hard and cold, but McCoy was never one to back down from a challenge. So he continues, "On many levels, I understand where Winona is coming from," oh hell, he couldn't believe he was talking about this, willingly opening himself up. "I left my little girl. I didn't want to, Lord knows I didn't want to, but I had to. I ran away to Starfleet, abandoned her. I will never get rid of the sadness, the ache, the guilt. I know I am the reason that she feels sad, confused. I curse myself everyday for that, and I know I will continue to curse myself for the rest of my life.

"Joanna is going to grow up hating and resenting me for leaving her. But I hope she knows, and understands, that if things were different, I would never leave my child's side. I pray that in the end, she knows that I love her, I love her more than anything in this universe. I need her to understand that whenever she needs me, I am waiting for her. Whenever she's confused and lost, lonely and frightened, she needs only to reach out to know that I am there for her, and that I love her no matter what." Actual tears were slipping from their prisons, dammit, he hates showing such weakness in front of anyone. Tears were reserved for dark, empty rooms. "She needs to understand, that she is my little angel, my salvation, the very reason I get up in the mornings."

McCoy looks away, and passes an arm across his face, his voice was tight, "Dammit."

As the doctor was trying to regain some form of control, Jim just sat. Sat and thought. Sometimes he would glance sideways at Bones, but otherwise makes no indication into what he was thinking. McCoy himself stands up and makes his way to the bathroom, he splashes some cold water onto his face and breathes in and out deeply. He actually feels somewhat better, some of his darker emotions shifting to grey. Maybe eventually, with a lot of time, they would become light, and disappear like wisps of smoke.

When Leonard feels like he has regained control over his emotions once again, he exits the bathroom. Jim wasn't in the room. A note was on his pillow though.

_Went to see mom again, don't wait up for me. –Jim_

Bones smiles slightly. He discards the note and settles down into his bed. He still has a chapter to read before turning in.

* * *

There it is! Next chapter: A medical seminar!


	11. Trying to Act so Mature

**Link!**: There is a link on my profile to Memory Alpha. This site has the information you need to satisfy all your Star Trek needs. Most of the wording for my description of xenopolycythemia comes from this site as well as wikipedia.

* * *

Chapter 11: Trying to Act Mature, but Failing oh so Miserably

"- is a very rare blood disease. It causes excessive proliferation of red blood cells in the Human body. There is no known cure for Xenopolycythemia, but we have pinpointed the source to an abnormality in the bone marrow. As shown up here-"

"This is so boring."

"Shut up, I'm trying to listen."

"How did you ever convince me to come to a medical seminar with you?"

McCoy glares at Jim and hisses, "You volunteered all on your own, so why don't you suck it up and allow me to pay attention. This happens to be a very interesting lecture."

The silence lasts for a minute until Jim starts flipping his stylus up in the air. Leonard's eye twitches. He tries ignoring it for a minute, but dammit it wasn't his fault that the speaker had a monotone voice!

McCoy snatches the stylus midair, "Pay. Attention."

Jim looks on the brink of pouting, but then turns in his seat to face the speaker.

"Signs of Xenopolycythemia include, but are not limited to: headaches, vertigo, abnormally enlarged spleens and/or the liver. There might also be other conditions such as high blood pressure and the formation of blood clots-"

"My brain is about to implode." Came the moan next to him.

An eyebrow shoots up and McCoy glances over. Jim was limp in his seat, his eyes look glassy. His limbs are splayed out everywhere, limp as noodles. He snorts, yeah, it sure looks like he was brain-dead. The lecturer's voice was shoved to the background as Leonard begins pursuing more entertaining aspects. He can read up on the doctor's lecture later if he wants to.

Grinning, Bones put a finger in his mouth, making sure it was dripping in saliva. He leans over and stuck it in Jim's ear. The kid yelps and slides off his chair. A peculiar expression crosses his face as he tries to dry his ear canal. McCoy snorts as several occupants in the row in front of them turn to look back and give Jim disapproving looks. When Jim looks over to him, McCoy turns back to the speaker, pasting a focused look on his face like he had been listening the entire time.

"That was low, Bones. And quite immature I might add."

"Immature actions procure immature reactions."

Jim waves his arms around, "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"It means that if you're going to act immaturely, I am going to be forced to react immaturely."

"Right, blame me for your weird fetishes."

They sit in silence when Jim starts grinning, he huffs a little, trying to keep from laughing outright, "That was pretty good, Bones. You have my congratulations."

"Oh? Do I get a medal for my outstanding performance?"

"Don't push it, Bones." Pause, "Doesn't that guy look like Admiral Archer's beagle?"

The laugh escapes his lips before he has a chance to beat it down. McCoy bends over, hand pressed firmly over his mouth, his whole body shaking with repressed laughter. The worst part was that what Jim said was true, the lecturer did look like that beagle.

"Shhh!" An older woman in front of them scolds them.

A snort of laughter comes from Jim, it looks like he was having a hard time keeping in the mirth as well.

Finally Leonard takes a deep breath and sits back up. He really shouldn't be doing this. He was a professional in the field of medicine, here to learn and collaborate with those of like mind. But damn if Jim doesn't make him feel like a high schooler.

McCoy points out a man sitting up on the Board of Representatives, "What about that man?"

Jim cocks his head, "What about him?"

"Look a bit squirrelly, don't he?"

A hissing sound was coming from the kid as he tries so hard not to make a sound. He was holding his sides, one foot stamping on the ground. More people are turning to look at them. McCoy placates them with his hand gestures and shrugs as if to say, _kids, what can you do?_

Jim settles down. They both sit there, lost in their minds, thinking about anything but the lecture. Jim pokes him. Then he pokes him again. He keeps poking until Leonard elbows him in the side.

"Ow."

"Oh, is James T. Kirk hurt by a little elbow shoved into this side? Here, maybe this will help." Another elbow to the side.

Jim glares at him, his expression changes though, to one of pure malevolence. He sits back in his seat casually, "So Bones, I heard a little rumor, tell me if I'm wrong because you know how I hate having wrong assumptions . . ."

McCoy shifts a little, wary of this change in attitude.

"I heard from some little newbies that there was someone holding this seminar. First one of its kind at the Academy."

Leonard stiffens; he really would've preferred it if Jim had never found out about this. Ever. He tries to look indifferent, "Oh really? Listening to first years' gossip, Jim? I didn't know you could sink so low."

Jim grins, "I try. Anyway, I inquired further, and guess what I found out, Bones."

"I have to idea, Jim."

"Turns out it's a seminar for people with astrophobia. It got me thinking, Bones should really go to this seminar, it might help him with his 'problem'."

"If by 'problem' you mean scared shitless of anything that flies is going to explode, then I assure you it is a very real possibility. I don't see why you have to poke fun at a perfectly reasonable fear, Jim."

Jim's eyes starts twinkling with merriment, "Whatever let's you sleep at night, Bones," he waves a hand dismissively, "Anyway! You're getting me off topic."

That's the point, Leonard thinks.

"So I ask the kids more about this seminar. Now listen to this Bones, this is the really interesting part. Turns out a doctor in the Starfleet training program organized the whole thing, convinced he wasn't the only one in the Academy scared shitless of flying. It was the most intriguing thing-"

"Okay, okay! I give up!"

"Shhhhh!" Several people join in this time.

McCoy glares at them and then turns back to Jim, "I give up, ok? I admit it, I organized a seminar for astrophobics. We're going to have a big discussion about the subject of flying and Starfleet, as well as how to try and augment these fears (I, of course, suggest being drunk while flying). There're different speakers from Starfleet coming to talk about some aspects of the phobia. I am also speaking." A hand sweeps through his hair, "There, are you happy now, Jim? You've got the confession out of me."

Jim nods, he was shaking, though, trying not to laugh, "Quite happy, Bones. It's good to see you reach out to fellow," a snort, "victims of this dilapidating phobia."

"Yeah, yeah, shut the hell up."

"You know I only make fun of you because I care."

A glare, "I don't think that's quite it, Jim."

"Well, I have one question to ask you concerning this seminar."

The lecturer was starting to notice the distracting companions in the back, McCoy eyed Jim, "Yeah? What?"

"Can I come to your seminar?"

"Hell no."

"Oh come one, Bones. I want to be there for support."

"Not if this is how you act in all the seminars you go to."

Jim looks around the room. A good majority of people were glaring at them, even the person speaking gave them pointed looks. "Point taken."

They sit and listen. McCoy can tell that Jim was trying, he really was. But even this old country doctor wants to shoot his own brains out. Finally he gets an idea, a very immature and childish idea, but it would alleviate the torture they were going through. McCoy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ball of rubber bands. Why did he have a small ball of rubber bands in his pocket? He has not idea. Maybe left over from his class project earlier today.

He snaps one off and nudges Jim, the kid looks at him, bored. Leonard waves the band in front of his face and points to a head in the sea of heads, "Want to see who can hit the target first?"

The glint in Jim's eyes returns. He straightens up at the thought of the challenge, "You're on."

Oh, they were so getting kicked out for this.

* * *

And there you have it. Only two more chapters to go ladies and gentlemen!


	12. Pep Talks

**Author's Note**: Sorry, I made a little bit of a mistake last time! There are actually two more chapters after this chapter, so fourteen all together. I forgot about one of the chapters I had written *scratches head and laughs nervously*.

**Link**: Again, there is no link on my page, but I would encourage all of you to check out S.P.O.C.K. I find their songs highly amusing. Make sure to especially listen to Dr. McCoy!

* * *

Chapter 12: Pep Talks (Sort of)

Bones searches the smoky bar. Coming up negative on his search, he decides to dive into the depths of the establishment. It was five in the morning, and yet the place was still pretty crowded. Now where in the hell was that kid? Yes, kid, he thinks to himself. Jim sometimes was so irresponsible that McCoy seriously thought it was a child possessing an adult's body. Jim has not bothered coming home tonight, not that McCoy was Jim's mother or anything, it was just that Jim had gotten into the nice habit of coming home by at least two.

So when he woke up at four-thirty and saw the bed on the other side empty, he was a little worried. When he didn't see any messages on his PADD, he started getting dressed. When Jim didn't return any of his messages, he grabbed his medikit and left in search for one wayward roommate.

Now after searching Jim's top favorite bars and coming up empty, Leonard has reached the last resort. If Jim doesn't turn up here, then McCoy didn't know where the hell he could be.

"What 'er you doin' 'ere, Bones?"

McCoy looks behind his shoulder, the corner table was shrouded in darkness, but he could vaguely tell that a lone figure was sitting there, or more like slumped there. A sigh of relief escapes. Jim was ok, only intoxicated. Leonard sits down and looks at him. He looks miserable. What brought this on? Jim was all sunshine earlier in the day, now this.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?"

"I failed."

"Okaaay. You know, Jim, everybody fails at least once in their lives, most people don't go out and get stone-cold drunk every single time it happens."

"I'm not like most people, failing is not acceptable."

"You have some damn hero complex, you know that Jim?"

He nods, "I know."

"So you care to enlighten me on this epic failure of yours?"

Jim swallows the rest of his beer, "The 'Maru."

McCoy closes his eyes and restrains himself from banging his head on the table, "The Kobyashi Maru? That's why you're acting all pathetic?"

"Ow, Bones, not so loud."

"I can't believe you're getting into a little snit about some test that's unbeatable. This is second time you've taken it, isn't it?"

Jim grins, and looks around listlessly, "I think I know why I keep losing."

"Oh, please do inform the rest of us."

He flashes Leonard a shit-eating grin, "Because I didn't have my Bonesy lucky charm with me."

"I'm not your damn lucky charm, Jim, I'm a doctor."

"No, I definitely think you're my lucky charm, dude."

McCoy rolls his eyes, "So how about you give me the real reason why this test upsets you."

Jim looks at him with sad eyes, "I don't believe in no-win situations, I can't." He shakes his head, "If something like the Kobyashi Maru actually happened while I'm captain, I can't, I won't let my crew die. It's not an option."

"You know it's just a simulation, right Jim?"

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter if it's fake or real, I won't let my crew die. Not on my watch." Jim scoffs, "They wanted us to take this test seriously, well guess what? I am taking it dead seriously."

"Jim look, I think you're overreacting-"

"No! Don't you understand, Bones? What if you were on my ship, a part of my crew? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let anything happen to you or anyone under my command, not while I can help it."

"That's just the thing, Jim. Sometimes you can't help it. Shit happens. Sometimes it's out of our control. We just have to find the best course out of the situation."

"I know that shit happens. I wouldn't mind the occasional mystery. Or even the occasional epidemic because I know you'll be there to kick ass. It's just the thought that Starfleet thinks they need to drill into everyone's heads that we're all going to eventually die in the line of duty. Like it's inevitable. It's not, and I'll make sure of that."

McCoy shifts in his seat, "How the hell do you know I'm going to be stationed with you?"

Jim's face softens, he grins, "Call it a hunch, Bones. Besides, I can't go out into the deep black without my lucky charm."

Leonard sighs and rests his head in one hand. He should just humor the kid.

"Well, if anyone can cheat their way out of an impossible situation, it's you Jim. So what are you planning on doing? Complain to our CO's? Bet that'd get a chuckle out of 'em."

Jim was looking at him, calculating. His eyes suddenly clear, he murmurs, "Cheat my way out? Huh." He sees McCoy's inquiring look, and sits up straight, "No I'm not going to complain to my CO, I'm not their lapdog."

"Well, if you aren't doing anything, how about we get you back to our room? Pretty sure you're about to pass out."

"Oh ye of little faith! I don't think you know how well I hold my liqueur, Bones. Well, what are you waiting for? Lead on!"

Bones grumbles and grabs a hold of Jim's arm, making sure the kid doesn't fall flat on his face.

"By-the-way Bones, thanks for the idea."

"What idea? What are you-? You know, I don't even want to know, let's just getting this ugly ass of yours in bed."

"You think my ass is ugly, Bones?"

"Just shut up, Jim."

* * *

There it is! Next up: Nancy and Leonard go on a date. Awwwww.


	13. Plum

Chapter 13: Plum

Leonard straightens out his shirt; there was this one wrinkle right to the side that was driving him crazy. Looking in the mirror he makes sure there is no stubble that he has missed, that not one hair was out of place, and that his breath doesn't smell like some of Jim's home cooked meals. Satisfied, he finishes by applying some cologne. Perfect.

As he walks out of the bathroom a wolf whistle sounds, "Looking nice, Bones."

McCoy glares at his roommate, the man in question was studiously looking through a playboy magazine. He knows Jim was just trying to get a rise out of him, often times it works. McCoy swears that he has gained the patience of a saint after dealing with this kid for almost three years now.

"Trying to look nice for a certain lady friend, Bones? Or should I say, Plum?"

Leonard's cheeks grow hot; he knows that he probably looks grotesquely red in the face. He resents that little endearment: Plum. Uhg, he shudders just thinking about it. For some reason, Nancy had thought it was perfect for him. Her little plum. Gag. Speaking of Nancy, he needs to leave and pick her up.

"I'll see you later, Jim. Don't get into trouble while I'm out."

"I could say the same thing to you." Jim's eyebrows are moving up and down suggestively.

"Jim, if I haven't slept with her yet, I'm not going to do it tonight."

"You know, I've always wondered about that. Why haven't you slept with her, you two have been together for what? Two and a half years now?"

Irritation flits across his mind, "Jim, unlike you, I'm a gentleman. Nancy and I wanted to take it slow and if we ever got to the point where we wanted to have sex, she and I both agreed we wanted it to be meaningful and not just some fling. It's called maturity, Jim." McCoy waves his hand and starts walking towards the door, "I don't know why I'm talking to you about this, my sex life is none of your concern. I'll see you later."

Spending time with Nancy was always enjoyable. She was petite, with short brown hair bobbed neatly atop her head. Her personality was gentle and soft. So different from the fiery passion that consumed Jocelyn. She was quiet, but her insights were usually very profound.

And here they were, walking along the bay, holding hands. She was humming softly under her breath, eyes closed while she enjoys the moonlight and gentle ocean breeze. Leonard just likes looking at her, a smile plays on his lips. He wishes he could say that he loved her, but that really didn't seem to be the case. The more time they spent together, the more they grew closer together like siblings. They both recognize it, it was the very reason for this particular date.

"You're a rare breed, you know that Leonard?"

His lip twitches up, "Maybe."

"You're the embodiment of masculinity, yet at your core it's all compassion and heart. It's truly a sight to see sometimes. Your passion for life is touching."

"You trying to boost my already huge ego, darlin'?"

Nancy laughs, it sounds like chimes dancing in the wind, "I'm trying to give you a genuine compliment you old schmooze."

"Oh, I'm old now, huh? Weren't you praising my youth last week?" He knows his hazel eyes must be dancing like crazy with mirth. He can see it as her eyes do the same.

"Hush, I'm trying to make a point, Plum."

He grimaces. That nickname could probably shut him up for years.

"The point is that I think you're a great man, with even greater potential. You're going out among the stars, and I know you will make a difference. You'll be saving those space happy people who take delight in the unknown."

"So where are you going with this?"

Nancy stops and turns towards McCoy, she put her hands on his arms, "Leonard, I'm being shipped out tomorrow to go participate in an archeological dig. I think we need to discuss our situation seriously."

Leonard nods, he wholeheartedly agrees. He was infinitely glad Nancy was so mature about this.

"Plum, I don't regret spending two and a half years with you. In fact, it has helped me grow in more ways than one. The fact of the matter is, is that now I realize what our relationship has grown into. It isn't in any way romantic, and I know you agree with this sentiment."

McCoy smiles, "Well, I do have to agree, darlin'. I don't really feel romantically towards you. I feel you're more like my sister."

"And I feel like you're the big brother I've always wanted. I know you wanted to try and see if this relationship would turn more romantic, but with me leaving tomorrow and you graduating at the end of the semester, I just don't see that happening."

They start walking back towards campus. Leonard wraps an arm around Nancy and draws her into his side. They are silent until they reach the gardens.

McCoy turns Nancy towards him and he places a small kiss upon her lips and then kisses her forehead, "Be safe out there, Nancy. I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt."

"Thanks, Leonard. You need to do the same, seeing as how you're going to be in a more dangerous situation than I am."

"Oh, I'll probably die of boredom before anything gets me."

A giggle. Nancy squeezes his hand, "I'll be seeing you later then, Plum. Goodbye."

"Goodbye sweetheart."

Nancy turns and disappears around a wall of ivy. A pang strikes deep within him. He was relieved, relieved because this was the right thing to do. He was happy for Nancy. Damn he loved that woman. And she loved him. But a long distance relationship just wouldn't work for them. His guts twist, as much as he was happy about how everything turned out, he was also undeniably sad. Another woman was yet again walking out of his life. Leonard knows he could've been happy with Nancy, maybe not happy, but content.

The sadness of change was for the moment overtaking him, but he knows that the happiness of change was just right around the corner.

* * *

There it is! Next up: The End!


	14. An End

Author's Note: Well ladies and gentlemen, this is it! The last chapter. But wait, what's this? A sequel! That's right, I'm taking a two week break before I start uploading the sequel to this story (I don't know what it's called yet). Within that two week break a will be uploading a one-shot featuring Bones McCoy and everyone's favorite little girl, so stop in and read that whenever you get the fancy. Thank you all for your support!

Link: There is a link on my profile to a youtube video that I absolutely adore! It's a must see.

Disclaimer: I did not come up with the lines from Star Trek 2009. Nor did I come up with the one from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

* * *

Chapter 14: An End, Making a Way for a Beginning

"Bones!"

McCoy looks over his shoulder as he exits the classroom where he helps student-teach psychology. Jim is practically skipping down the hall towards him. The doctor rolls his eyes. Jim was all smiles and energy.

The kid slaps a hand on Leonard's shoulder, "How's the day been treating you so far, Bones?"

"It was agreeable up until now."

"Ouch. I'm touched by how much you care about me."

A snort, "Sure."

They start walking towards the main entrance. Jim looks at him sideways, a question clearly in his eyes.

"Stop looking at me and ask your damn question, Jim."

"So what's with you and Nancy? I haven't seen her for a couple of days and you haven't called her at all. So what's up?"

"Well Detective Jim, if you must know, Nancy and I broke things off at the beginning of the week and she's now in-route to some planet so that she can go digging around in the dirt."

Jim stops walking, his eyes are sad, "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Bones."

"What for? You don't see me crying rivers of tears. It was a mutual decision, Jim."

"Still . . . you were happy with her."

Bones nods, "I was . . . content."

Jim bounces back into step, "Well, if you're not heartbroken about it then I guess there's no need for me to worry."

"You? Worrying about little ol' me?"

"Always, Bones. Always."

They walk outside, the sun is bright and the day is beautiful. Jim is practically bouncing down the steps. McCoy glances at him, "Why are you so happy?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Leonard rolls his eyes, "No, I don't suppose you do."

A couple of female cadets pass them, Jim slows down, his eyes roaming up and down their fine contours, "Hellloo, Ladies!" He turns back, almost missing a step, "I'm taking the test again."

McCoy almost misses a step as well, he looks incredulously at his friend, "You've got to be kidding me-"

"Yeah, tomorrow morning. And I want you there."

He flusters. Damn it Jim, I'm not your lucky charm! "Ah – you know, I've got better things to do than watch you embarrass yourself for a third time." McCoy glances around the campus and then back at Jim, "I'm a doctor Jim, I'm busy."

They pause in their walking, Jim is looking at him imploringly, "Bones, doesn't it bother you that no one's ever passed the test?"

The doctor was looking at the kid like he has lost his marbles, "Jim, it's the Kobyashi Maru. No one passes the test and no one goes back for seconds . . . let alone thirds."

Jim beams at him and then slaps him on the back, "I've got to study."

McCoy scoffs and waves his medikit towards the retreating figure, "Study my ass."

Shaking his head he starts walking, his shift at the hospital starts soon. He thinks over the situation some more, then curses his soft side. Of course he was going to be there tomorrow morning in the simulation room. He wants to support Jim in his decisions, even if he thought they were stupid and generally a waste of time.

This decision of Jim's just seemed more ominous than all previous ones. But no matter the outcome Bones would be there by Jim's side because that's what they did for each other. Both had stepped onto that shuttle three years ago with absolutely nothing. Both had somehow endured each other's company throughout the preceding days. And now McCoy knows that their lives are irrevocably attached to one another's (as cheesy as that might sound).

Leonard sighs, he would ponder the questions of life, the universe, and everything after his shift. Doctor Puri wants to talk to him about his upcoming assignment on the Enterprise that McCoy would receive after graduating. He grimaces, the thought of being up in space made him a little bit queasy.

* * *

Again, thank you all for sticking it through. Down below is just my little tribute to all my reviewers, if you never reviewed than you don't have to read any further.

FOR MY WONDERFUL REVIEWERS!

First I would like thank all those who have reviewed since the first minutes of my stories existence to the end.

Second I would like to acknowledge the two people who have reviewed the most: TREKKIE 2 (Thank you so much for all those reviews, very much appreciated). Followed closely by TITANIA TOOK (loved your comments).

Thirdly I want to express my heartfelt appreciations to those who reviewed more than once (you people know who you are) and also to the people who only reviewed once (Thanks for taking the time!):

NaomiBlue Constance TruggleHarm Marie The Wolf's Shadow ShamelessSpocker bookdragon01 fergnerdRedlion ess621kikoShake speare's Lemonade Yukimura Hina Sparky Dorian

AGAIN! A BIG THANK YOU! I hope to see you all around for my sequel!


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